Notes on power, strategy and decision
Perspectives for business owners, CEOs, shareholders and boards facing consequential decisions.
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The Owner’s Dilemma: When to Sell the Family Company
Selling a family business is rarely just a financial decision. It is a question of identity, legacy and timing, and most owners face it only once.
What Great Non-Executive Directors Actually Do
A non-executive seat is easy to occupy and hard to fill well. The difference between an adequate director and a great one lies less in credentials than in judgement, courage and the questions they choose to ask.
The First 72 Hours: Leading Through a Reputation Crisis
A reputation crisis is rarely decided by the event itself. It is decided by what leaders do — and fail to do — in the first seventy-two hours.
Walk-Away Power: Why Your Best Alternative Decides the Negotiation
In high-stakes negotiations, the strongest position rarely belongs to the side with the most resources. It belongs to the side that is most prepared to walk away, and has done the work to know where that point lies.
Advisory, Not Consulting: What Senior Leaders Actually Need
Consulting helps leaders know more; advisory helps them decide better. Why the hardest decisions at the top call for a trusted, independent advisor rather than another analysis.
Succession Is a Strategy, Not an Event
In most family businesses, succession is discussed as a date. In the ones that last for generations, it is managed as a strategy — one that starts years before anyone steps down.
Reputation Is a Balance Sheet Item
Reputation does not appear in the accounts, yet it determines the cost of capital, the loyalty of clients and the patience of regulators. Boards that treat it as a communications matter are managing the wrong risk.
The CEO's Blind Spot: Why the Top Job Needs a Shadow Advisor
The higher a leader rises, the less the truth reaches them unfiltered. The most effective CEOs build a deliberate counterweight: one person whose only agenda is the quality of their decisions.
The Founder’s Dilemma
The instinct and authority that build a company eventually cap it. The answer is not delegation for its own sake, but deciding deliberately which decisions must remain the founder’s.