Carl Lundberg took over as CEO from Richard Kleiner, Gerald Edelman’s Chairman, in May 2024. His journey to the role was a powerful learning experience. “I'm feeling more comfortable in the role, but it is a process of continuous learning at a massive pace because the industry and the world is in a massive period of change,” says Lundberg.

However, Lundberg’s elevation to CEO nearly didn’t happen. In 2014, the year he joined Gerald Edelman as Head of Transaction Services, he was offered a position and a big salary increase at a Big Four firm. At the time, Lundberg was gaining more exposure to different parts of the Gerald Edelman practice as part of his leadership training. But six months after his departure, Lundberg connected with Kleiner on LinkedIn.

“I enjoyed it, I learned a lot,” says Lundberg of his time at the Big Four firm, but his stint there taught him that he had ambitions of being a partner, but would prefer to achieve that goal at a mid-tier firm.

“I invited him to come back for a meeting and I said, ‘You’ve come back, you’re out of audit completely, you’re just going to work alongside me – and whatever comes across my desk, you’re going to have a look at it,’” recalls Kleiner.

Setting a pathway to partnership

Lundberg’s return was the start of a fast track to partnership, showcasing his CEO potential along the way. 

“He demonstrated – not just to me, but to others – the sort of intellect and pragmatism and effective, timely communication that all good leaders should have, so it wasn’t a surprise when I got the backing of the partners to promote Carl to partner in 2017,” says Kleiner. 

Three years later, Lundberg became an equity partner and, when a senior partner retired in 2021, it paved the way for him to join the executive board. 

When Lundberg was in line to become CEO, Kleiner made sure he wasn’t thrown in at the deep end. “I said to him at the time, ‘Look, I’m a bit of a control freak, so it’s going to be harder for me for you to take over than it is for you, but you know that I’m there to support and counsel you,’” says Kleiner. “Succession plans are always better when the two proponents of that plan are there together, so they can help each other – lots of people say that being CEO is very lonely and being chairman is quite isolating.”

As well as Kleiner’s ongoing support, Lundberg has been proactive about his career development in the years leading up to becoming CEO.

Undergoing leadership training 

ICAEW’s Developing Leadership in Practice (DLIP) programme was an important part of Lundberg’s path to CEO. Monthly group sessions proved to be a valuable change from his independent approach to learning and reluctance to rely on others. “I always tried to make myself self-sufficient from a technical perspective and if something came up, I wouldn’t ask someone; I’d look at the standards, look at the Companies Act and find the answer,” he says.

However, he found DLIP to be a solid investment in his career. “It was a meaningful gesture, but it was useful – it gave me the opportunity to meet other people who were in similar positions and that peer support was very helpful.”

“DLIP gave me the opportunity to raise specific people management and leadership challenges that I was facing at the time,” he says. “To hear other people's reading of your situation is really useful – and you hear about different issues coming up that you have not seen yet, but you will, so it was good to hear how others dealt with it, how the group discussed it and how the coaches talked us through it.”

The importance of mentorship

Mentors remain important to Lundberg, including an ex-Goldman Sachs MD that he sees on a monthly basis, along with regular catch-ups with Kleiner and Deval Patel, one of Gerald Edelman’s senior partners. 

Additionally, Lundberg learns so much on the job. He says auditing can be an “odd profession”: “At the beginning of your career, you’re a good auditor, so they make you a manager, but you look at the characteristics of what makes a good people manager and what makes a good auditor, and they’re vastly different things.”

He says he has learned and adapted along the way, but his leadership style had to change when he became CEO. Early in his career, Lundberg says he could “rely more heavily on IQ”, but as he became more senior, his leadership style became “more EQ-based.”

“As a CEO, you build up political capital and then you spend it on certain things and you've got to spend it wisely – and it's much harder to build it up than it is to spend it.” 

Technology could improve staff pay and wellbeing

Looking to the future, Lundberg and Kleiner agree that artificial intelligence (AI) will present opportunities and challenges at Gerald Edelman. But Lundberg is hopeful the benefits will outweigh any pitfalls.

“We want to hugely increase efficiency with technology, including AI, of course, and if we can achieve that, it will allow us to pay our good people more than the market rates,” Lundberg says. “If you pay people well, give them interesting, meaningful work, and provide them with a recognised development experience, you attract the best people, you deliver the best quality work.”

The fast pace of change means the chartered accountant’s role may become “hybrid in nature as many firms may pivot more into technology consulting”, but it can still be difficult to make predictions, according to Lundberg. “It’s very difficult, but we are constantly spotting, nurturing and investing in talent very heavily – it is a core part of our firm’s strategy.” 

Just as Kleiner identified Lundberg’s CEO potential, Lundberg says he is interested in ensuring people at Gerald Edelman have career paths, including whoever the next CEO might be.

“If you’ve got great people, hopefully there’s a role for them, and if you can get them in the right seat, they will progress and do well,” says Lundberg.