Design leadership for architecture firms.
Align partners, sharpen your story, and build the systems that turn great work into repeatable growth.
I’m Ian Chodikoff, an architect who helps architecture and design firms, from startups to global practices, strengthen design leadership through better alignment, clearer narratives, and more confident execution. I help practices align partners, sharpen positioning, strengthen pursuits, and build decision-making systems that turn great work into repeatable momentum. I bring over 25 years of experience across practice, publishing, advocacy, procurement, and professional leadership, with a deep understanding of the Canadian market and its global context.
What we do.
Leadership diagnostics and partner alignment
Positioning and practice narrative (who you are, why you matter, why now)
Pursuit strategy and shortlist interview readiness
Decision-making systems that reduce friction and increase follow-through
Training and workshops for partners and emerging leaders
Special projects that showcase your identity and purpose (policy statements, campaigns, publications, exhibitions, and video storyboards)
What we don’t do.
Media pitching, press office services, or publication outreach.
Approach
I work with organizations of all scales and complexities on growth, reinvention, and high-stakes moments, including proposals, special projects, and leadership transitions. The aim is not louder communication. It’s clearer leadership, so your work earns the attention it deserves, and for the right reasons.
My work is research-driven and context-aware. I look at the overlapping forces shaping your next chapter, including community expectations, technology, healthy spaces, cultural authenticity, policy realities, and climate-positive design. That often reveals high-value opportunities that were hiding in plain sight.
When the work is pursuit-focused, I help teams dissect project outlines and articulate their value with precision, framing strengths within the political, technological, and cultural contexts shaping the built environment today.
For clients adjacent to architecture (construction, materials, development, climate-positive technologies), I help translate across disciplines so your strategy and messaging align with the realities of land use, approvals, community engagement, infrastructure, and the relationship between technology and built form.
I’m comfortable working with large multidisciplinary teams, governments, institutions, and developers on initiatives that involve design competitions, selection committees, proposal calls, shortlist interviews, international partnerships, and design advocacy.