A founder and CEO brought in private equity investment to support the next stage of growth in a business he had built. What he underestimated was how profoundly the new ownership would change his own role. The loss of freedom and control — and a very different management style — proved difficult for both him and his team.

Over several years, our conversations initially focused on helping him manage that relationship more deliberately, before turning increasingly to succession and the much harder question of his own future. Attempts to find a successor, both internally and externally, have not yet produced the right answer, but he has accepted that his time as CEO must come to an end and an agreed timeframe for his transition is now in place. Our work continues as he considers what comes next.