As a speaker and author, Sherrie extends these ideas beyond the C-suite and boardroom. Her forthcoming book, Escaping the Workaround Bucket, is a leadership fable for early-career professionals and the leaders developing them, grounded in her belief that strong leadership foundations begin long before a title signals authority. She is also one of the authors of Unstoppable, inspired by her family’s experience navigating her two sons’ Type 1 diabetes diagnoses and the courageous conversations that followed. She is the author of the Amazon bestselling Heaven’s Bell series, work that reflects her long-standing belief that growth begins when people are willing to face the conversations most want to avoid.
Sherrie holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business communication, serves on the board of a global search firm, sits on the Council of the Americas for the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants, and is a member of CHIEF. Across her writing, speaking, and company leadership, she remains focused on one outcome: helping people and organizations build the clarity, courage, and leadership capacity needed to move forward well.
Sherrie Barch is the CEO and cofounder of Furst Group and NuBrick Partners, where she has dedicated her career to placing senior executives and advising organizations through growth, transition, and succession. Over thousands of leadership conversations, she began to see the same pattern repeat itself. Organizations and careers do not usually stall because people stop caring. They stall when clarity breaks down, difficult conversations are avoided, and workarounds start doing the job leadership was meant to do.
That pattern became the foundation for Sherrie’s Three Buckets framework, shaped by her experience as a CEO and sharpened through years of organizational development work. Centered on roles and responsibilities, goals and planning, and workarounds, the framework gives leaders a practical way to diagnose breakdowns, reduce misalignment, and strengthen the systems people rely on every day. Today, Sherrie brings that work to executive teams, boards, and audiences with a direct, human-centered style that helps people name what is off, restore alignment, and move from avoidance to ownership.
Insights from the search
Curated conversations on organizational mechanics and leadership alignment.
Bypassing the Rules
Courageous Conversations
Careers That Work
Discussing how clarity over cleverness drives sustainable growth, and why C-suite succession fails when roles are left undefined.
How to name what isn't working in the room right now. Practical steps for leaders to eliminate silent operational bottlenecks.
Advice for rising professionals navigating corporate friction and building strong leadership foundations early.
Clarity over cleverness
A workaround is a slow-motion breakdown we have agreed to live with. Our framework names what is off, restores alignment, and moves teams from avoidance to ownership.
Roles and Responsibilities
Goals and Planning
Workaround Elimination
Establishing absolute clarity on who owns what decision, removing the friction of overlapping authority.
Aligning team direction with measurable milestones, replacing vague expectations with concrete operational targets.
Identifying where systems are bypassed and building the courage to address the underlying organizational bottlenecks.
Literary authority on leadership
Escaping the Workaround Bucket
A practical leadership fable for early-career professionals and the executives developing them. This book provides a clear roadmap to dismantle silent operational bottlenecks before they stall progress.
Unstoppable & Heaven's Bell
Bestselling works exploring the courage required for difficult conversations, whether navigating sudden family health crises or facing the transitions most leaders avoid.
