Leadership, board and culture advisory for private equity.
Former CEO, executive chair and PE operating partner. More than forty deals, public and private. I now advise firms on leadership, boards and culture, and coach portfolio company CEOs and their teams.
A particular kind of pressure
Running a business through a hold period is not the same as running one outside it. The timeline is fixed, the scrutiny is close, and the return depends on more than the plan: on the right leaders in the right seats, a board that functions, and a culture that can move at the pace the thesis assumes.
Most of what goes wrong during a hold period is human rather than commercial. That is the part I work on.
Two versions of the same company
In AlixPartners' 2024 leadership survey, investors attributed weak CXO performance to a lack of urgency, unfocused execution and inflexibility. Portfolio company leaders described the same relationship differently: investors without operating experience, clashing working styles, and less capital than the plan required.
In my experience both versions are usually accurate. Neither side gets much time to find out: Heidrick & Struggles report that over 70% of CEOs at PE-backed companies are replaced during the average holding period.
I have held both roles. I know what each side means by what it says, and most of my work is closing the gap between them before it gets expensive.
How I Work
At three levels: with the investor, with the board, and with the leadership team. In practice that might mean assessing a candidate before a hire is confirmed, reviewing how a board is functioning, running a culture diagnostic, or working alongside a chief executive over a longer period.
Engagements begin with a diagnosis, not a programme.
About Me
I have been a private equity-backed chief executive, an executive chair and an operating partner, as well as non-executive director of public and private companies in the UK, Germany, the US and Turkey.
Earlier, I held senior roles at Kingfisher PLC, The Home Depot and Toys"R"Us Europe. I have worked on over forty public and private transactions across North America, Europe and Asia.
I hold qualifications from the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations: in individual coaching, in organisational coaching, and in board dynamics. I am an accredited mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, and a member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Association.
THE WORK
Every engagement starts from the same question: can this leadership team, this board and this culture deliver the plan that was underwritten?
CEO Coaching
Leading a private equity-backed company can be an isolating job. The board is focused on results, the investors on pace, and the executive team is looking to you for direction it can rely on.
What the role rarely provides is a place to think: somewhere to test a judgement before it becomes a decision. That is what the coaching is for. I work one to one with chief executives on the first hundred days in a new role, a board relationship that has become difficult, a team inherited rather than chosen, or a business being prepared for exit.
The conversations are confidential and direct, and often a mix of coaching and advice drawn from my own time in the role.
Board Assessment & Development
Boards often sense that something is not working before they can say precisely what.
I carry out confidential evaluations of composition, dynamics and decision-making, looking at how well the board supports the investment thesis and where any distance has opened between governance and performance. Where relationships have become strained, I mediate between portfolio company leadership and sponsors to reset how the board works.
I then work with the board on what follows, if that would be useful.
Organisational Change
Culture is difficult to discuss usefully without something to measure.
As an accredited Denison Consulting partner, I use a diagnostic that assesses mission, adaptability, involvement and consistency, benchmarked against a database of more than 1,100 organisations. It gives a board and a management team something specific to work from rather than a set of impressions.
Where change work follows, I can design and run it.
If you are weighing a hire, a board that is not working as it should, or support for a chief executive in a demanding role, I am glad to have an initial conversation