Leadership Advisory
Leadership as a decisive factor in value creation
In private equity, strategy and capital are prerequisites. Leadership determines whether value is actually realized. Not in plans or structures, but in the day-to-day reality of decision-making, collaboration, and ownership—especially when pressure increases.
We support investors and portfolio companies in making leadership explicit and steering it at critical moments in the investment. Before, during, and after the deal. Always in relation to the investment case, the company’s phase, and the equity story.
Where Executive Search focuses on attracting leaders, Leadership Advisory focuses on whether the existing leadership actually delivers what this phase of the investment requires in practice, and where risks or constraints arise.
Leadership before the deal – Insight into risks and prerequisites
In the pre-deal phase, decisions are made that can hardly be corrected later. This phase is not about development, but about insight. Where can leadership accelerate value creation, and where are structural risks likely to surface during the holding period?
We analyze leadership as a value driver or value risk, always linked to the investment case and the first phase after closing. We are acutely aware of the confidentiality and sensitivity of this phase. Depending on the situation, we work with formal assessment tools or exclusively through confidential conversations and observations.
This makes visible how decisions are actually made, how leaders perform under pressure, where collaboration or governance is vulnerable, and what can realistically be strengthened within the holding period. The outcome is a clear leadership profile that is immediately usable for IC and board decisions and provides direction for the first 100 days after closing.
After closing – Grip on behavior, decision-making, and collaboration
After closing, the focus shifts from assessment to steering. The question is no longer whether leadership fits, but how it contributes predictably to execution and pace.
We make behavior, decision-making patterns, and team dynamics explicit and translate these insights into concrete agreements on roles, collaboration, and governance. Not as a report, but as direct input for board and management team decisions.
At this stage, the question often arises whether the existing leadership is sufficient for the next phase of growth. When reinforcement or replacement is required, Leadership Advisory and Executive Search work closely together. Based on behavioral and contextual analysis, we clearly define what type of leader is needed and which conditions determine success.
Supporting leaders and teams – Focused on execution
For us, coaching and team support are always functional and context-driven. The objective is better leadership in practice, not personal development as an end in itself.
The focus is on onboarding and guidance in the first 100 days, strengthening decision-making and role clarity within the management team, and breaking patterns that undermine pace and execution power. By linking behavioral insights to concrete working agreements and follow-up, calm and predictability emerge—even when pressure increases.
Growth and scale – Preventing leadership from becoming the bottleneck
As organizations grow, the demands on leadership change. What was effective in an earlier phase can slow decision-making or block collaboration at scale.
We help organizations recognize these tipping points in time. We make visible where decision-making stalls, where informal dependencies arise, and where governance no longer fits the organization’s complexity. By making this explicit, clarity emerges around roles, responsibilities, and decision rights, enabling the management team to make sharper choices and maintain momentum.
Towards exit – Making leadership transferable and demonstrable
At exit, a buyer looks not only at realized results, but also at predictability and continuity. We support organizations in making leadership explicit as a secured and transferable system.
We help demonstrate that leadership is embedded in behavior and decision-making, that succession and bench strength are thoughtfully organized, and that continuity does not depend on individual personalities. This provides concrete input for due diligence and strengthens confidence in the value creation story towards a buyer.
Career Openers Leadership Advisory
A logical extension of Executive Search. By connecting selection, analysis, and support, we make leadership less implicit and more steerable—precisely where it makes the difference in private equity.
Would you like a sharp view on leadership in your investment?
Please contact Rainier Beelen or Berend Smeets, Director Leadership Advisory, for a conversation.