Notes on power, strategy and decision
Perspectives for business owners, CEOs, shareholders and boards facing consequential decisions.
Leading a Turnaround Without Losing the Organisation
Turnarounds demand speed, hard choices and visible decisiveness. They also depend on people who must stay engaged while everything around them changes. The best turnaround leaders manage both at once.
The Next Generation at the Table: Preparing Heirs to Lead
Inheriting shares is easy. Inheriting the ability to lead a company, or to be a responsible owner, is not. The families that endure prepare their next generation deliberately, and long before it is needed.
The Exposed Executive: Digital Risk and Personal Reputation
For senior leaders, the line between private life and public exposure has almost disappeared. A single post, leak or old photograph can become a corporate issue overnight. Managing that exposure is now part of the job.
Decisions Under Pressure: A Framework for High-Stakes Choices
The most consequential decisions rarely arrive with complete information and plenty of time. A simple discipline helps leaders decide well when the stakes are high and the clock is running.
The CEO and the Private Equity Owner: Managing the Most Important Relationship
For the chief executive of a private equity-backed company, the relationship with the investor shapes everything: priorities, pace, autonomy and, ultimately, tenure. It deserves as much attention as any client.
Scaling Without Losing Control: Governance for PE-Backed Growth
Private equity accelerates growth — and changes the rules. Founders and managers who understand how governance shifts after an investment are far better placed to scale without losing control of the business they built.
Mediation Before Litigation: Resolving Disputes Between Partners
Litigation between partners rarely produces winners. It consumes years, money and reputations. Structured mediation, used early, often preserves far more value than any court victory.
When the Founder Must Step Back
The qualities that build a company are not always those that take it to the next stage. Knowing when — and how — to step back may be the founder’s last great entrepreneurial decision.
One Family, Several Countries: Governing a Business Across Borders
When family members live in different countries, under different laws and cultures, the family business faces a new kind of complexity. Governance has to travel as well as the family does.