We advise the top decision-makers of privately held companies in key matters of governance and leadership.
Our clients are typically owners, board members, or top executives of companies whose ownership is in the hands of a limited number of individuals.
In many cases these are family-owned enterprises, or companies that are publicly listed but remain strongly influenced by a family or another individual shareholder group.
LEADERSHIP
Executive Search, Evaluation and Integration of Senior Leaders
The identification, selection and evaluation of top leadership talents and senior executives is a challenging, time-consuming and often critical process for a company owner or Supervisory Board. An important part of our work is helping our clients to manage these transitions and fill key leadership positions. We help define the requirements and selection criteria for Board and C-level executive positions, we identify and evaluate candidates, and we assist our clients in selecting, hiring and bringing new leaders on board.
- CEO Succession
- Executive Search
- Board Search
- Active integration support
- Sounding board at owner / Board level
Evaluation of Board Performance and Senior Executives
We assist our clients in evaluating Boards, management teams, and senior executives in order to assess if the organisation has the leadership talent needed for future success.
- Management Potential Analysis (MPA)
- Board evaluation & professionalisation
GOVERNANCE
Advice on Governance Structures
An important part of our work is to design and help to implement governance structures for closely-held enterprises. Our advisors draw on significant experience with the creation and operation of corporate and family governance systems. Our role in these matters is to provide perspectives, precedents and advice on the different structural options available and, often most critical, to help owners and other stakeholders achieve a common understanding as to how their enterprise should be run.
- Corporate governance structures
- Family constitution
- Aligning shareholder groups
Ownership Strategy, Succession Planning, and Mediation
We help our clients through a comprehensive process to develop and define the substance, guiding principles and rules necessary to create clear and viable governance. For a governance structure to be successful over a long period it has to be based on an accepted set of fundamental strategic objectives and underlying values. We often assist groups of stakeholders to find common understanding, defining the fundamentals of what a business is about and in which direction it should be led. This may include the planning and implementation of a smooth succession in the company’s leadership, addressing emerging or underlying differences between stakeholders, or mediating and resolving disruptive conflicts between shareholders.
- Guiding principles and “rules of the game”
- Family identity / defining shared projects and values
- Managing ownership succession / succession planning
- Next generation preparation & development
- Conflict management / conflict resolution / stakeholder mediation
