Performance Diagnostician
About Irial O’Farrell
Founder & Lead Consultant
Irial's early career started in large companies that had long since come out the other side of 1-250 employee scaling challenges. Upon her return to Dublin, Ireland, Irial's next role was a baptism of fire. The company had gone from 10 to 100 in about 6-months and the best description is "chaos on steroids".
Her next move was to a 60-strong company with ambitions. Over the next 6 years, she supported the business to grow to 450 employees while protecting the company's reputation and minimising internal friction.
In 2006. she founded Evolution Consulting, to help companies to avoid the common pain traps of scaling a business from 10 - 250 headcount. Irial's unique ability to diagnose and name hidden behavioural patterns, that drag down clients' business results, is key to both parties' success.
She loves working with ambitious businesses that need help to prevent or overcome the inevitable challenges of their next performance mountain.
Having been profiled alongside Marshall Goldsmith and Tony Robbins, Irial was the first, and currently only, CMI-accredited master of change in Ireland. She has also authored several best selling business books and is working on her next one.
Coaching & Leadership Qualifications
- Postgraduate Certificate in Innovation & Enterprise Development, TCD, 2024
- Accredited Master of Change, Change Management Institute, 2020
- Prince2 Project Management, 2019
- Organisation Design in Practice, Roffey Park, 2018
- Insights Discovery Accreditation, 2013
- Leadership & Self-Deception, 2010
- MHS Emotional Intelligence, Self-report & 360, 2008
- Diploma in Executive Coaching, Positive Success Group, 2006
- OPQ & OT Testing Accreditation, SHL, 2003
- Certificate in Training Design & Delivery, 2002
- Diploma in Financial Services Law, UCD, 2001
- Higher Diploma in Statistics, UCD, 1994
- BSc Applied Sciences – Physics & Maths, TCD, 1993
Helping You Scale Your Business Successfully
Founded in 2006, we are passionate about supporting Managing Directors (CEOs), and their leadership teams, that have 10 - 250 employees and scaling ambitions. We help them to address their current or next scaling challenge, using the Evolution Consulting iCAS Growth Model:
- Intuition Limit (20 - 40 employees): Replicating "intuition" and "gut-feel" is no longer an option.
- Control Challenge (40 - 60 employees): Manager layer exists but inconsistent while management systems have been left to chance.
- Alignment Strain (70 - 90 employees): Influx of new people dilutes the founding culture and its hard to recognise the good from the bad.
- System Stressing (100+ employees): Friction arises from siloed functions pulling in different directions
Which stage is your business at currently? Which stage do you want to get to? What frictions are getting in your way? Book your Clarity Call, to find out how Evolution Consulting can help you grow your business.
Diagnosing Your Business Growth Frictions
Each scaling growth stage comes with its own headaches but factors, unique to your business, can exacerbate their impacts on your performance success.
Our success comes from diagnosing your specific frictions, allowing targeted solutions be implemented, unlocking growth potential.
Click on Our Client Solutions below, to find out more about the types of services we offer and how we apply them to unleash our clients' growth potential.
Our Industry & Organisation Structural Exposure
Industries
Along with understanding the pain points of scaling stages, we also bring industry experience, having worked with clients across a range of sectors, including:
- Legal, Consulting, Not-for-Profit
- Financial services, Accountancy, Aviation Leasing
- Medical devices, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals
- Information Technology, Technology
- Printing, Advertising, Marketing
- Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain
Organisational Structures & Sizes
Having insights across organisational structure, business models and growth stage challenges helps you make the right decisions for your business. These include:
- Professional Services partnership firms
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- Indigenous large companies
- Semi-state and Public bodies
- Multi-nationals – divisional and corporate
- Start-ups, Membership
Find out more about client scaling challenges at each growth stage.
Solutions to Improve Management & Leadership
Supporting Your Business Through Each Stage of Growth
If you recognise a need for external support, to help you & your team scale your current or next stage of business growth, take the first step & book your 30-min call.