Dieter Freer

Years at Spencer Stuart: 2013-2022

Consultant, Chicago 

Retired

For Dieter Freer, retirement has opened the door to a season shaped by family, curiosity and gratitude. He enjoys spending time with his two young grandsons, reading more than he could during his working years, staying active and enjoying travel, friendship and volunteer work with his wife, Lainie. It is a chapter that feels full in a quieter way, rooted in the relationships and interests that matter most.

Looking back on his years in Spencer Stuart’s Healthcare Practice, Dieter remembers not only the intellectual energy of the work, but also the humanity that defined the Firm at its best. After decades in senior leadership roles, he came to executive search ready to learn something new and left with an even deeper appreciation for the power of thoughtful leadership, generous colleagues and meaningful connections. 

Learning something entirely new

Professionally, joining Spencer Stuart marked a fresh beginning. After decades in senior leadership roles, Dieter entered executive search without having worked in the field before, and the interview process, 22 conversations across two continents, signaled he was stepping into something new. Once he began, he discovered exactly the challenge he had been hoping for: the chance to learn a new business while drawing on the experience and relationships he had built over a long career. There was something energizing about becoming, once again, the person who needed to listen more than he spoke. Dieter once met someone who had seven PhDs, which he admitted he didn’t know was humanly possible! But he loved all the incredible people he met along the way, and said that while it may sound like work, spending an hour and a half talking to a genius in their field is a pretty interesting thing to do.

A clearer language for leadership

In his prior career, Dieter had seen strong leaders and weak ones, and he understood the enormous effect leadership can have on an organization’s performance and culture. What Spencer Stuart added, he says, was a sharper set of tools: a clearer framework for defining leadership and articulating why it matters so much. It deepened ideas he already held and gave him a more precise way to communicate them.

What stayed with him most

When Dieter looks back on his time at Spencer Stuart, the memories that rise to the top are not only about the work, but the people. He recalls moments when colleagues showed up for one another in deeply human ways – rallying around a coworker whose child was born prematurely, and offering guidance, support and connections when he himself faced a cancer diagnosis. Those experiences left a lasting impression. For Dieter, they revealed something essential about the Firm at its best: that while business performance mattered, people were always at the center.

A formative moment  

One of the most significant moments in Dieter’s career happened long before Spencer Stuart and never appeared on his resume. Early in his leadership journey, his boss passed away unexpectedly. Not long after the funeral, his boss’ boss sat him down and offered him the role. The opportunity was affirming, but it was also emotionally complicated. He felt the weight of stepping into a job under difficult circumstances and wondered whether he had truly earned it. What stayed with him, though, was the support that followed. The leader who promoted him did not simply throw him into the deep end, but instead helped him navigate the moment and showed him that strong leadership can be both demanding and deeply human.

A new chapter

These days, Dieter’s time is anchored by family, and especially his two young grandsons, who he says have become one of the great joys of his retirement. He is also savoring hobbies that once had to compete with the demands of work: uninterrupted reading, regular trips to the gym and the satisfaction of feeling, as he puts it, “hale and hearty.” Alongside time with friends and travelling with his wife, he has also found meaningful ways to stay engaged through volunteer work, including serving on the human resources committee for the Kiawah Island board of directors.

Reading recommendations

Dieter points to a few enduring favorite reads, including two Saul Bellow novels: “The Adventures of Augie Marsh” and “Henderson the Rain King,” which he says are especially rewarding for readers who want something literary yet approachable. He also recommends the short stories of Annie Proulx, which he describes as wonderful, light and consistently enjoyable. The choices feel fitting for someone who, in retirement, has finally had the time to return to one of his oldest pleasures.