CHALLENGE

A start-up was acquired by a private equity firm. There was low morale, diminished team spirit and lack of personal performance, all ultimately impacting results.  

CIRCUMSTANCES

The people involved from the inception of the company were still with the organisation and were experiencing a change in culture, direction and
method of working. The speed and rate of change were further amplified with additional acquisitions that needed to be merged with the business.
The core team was under increasing pressure to provide stopgap solutions while other parts of the business were integrated. They were feeling undervalued and unrecognised.  

OUR INTERVENTION

• Gained an understanding of the vision and objectives of the PE Firm, and what was needed to get there
• Reviewed company objectives, what they espoused, what they rewarded (misalignment often causes lack of trust, disillusionment, conflict and low morale)
• Mapped capabilities and dynamics of core team where the issues were taking place (as a cohesive unit and as individuals)
• Gained an understanding of the real CAUSES of conflict (not just symptoms) split by which were due to the company, and which were due to team/individuals. Both tracks were dealt with separately.

INDIVIDUALS

• Enabled individual team members to reflect and understand events and interactions (perceptions, reactions and subsequent influence on relationships with their colleagues etc.)
• Individuals developed new personal strategies to improve communication and relationships with colleagues, along with ways to tackle rifts (e.g. areas in which they could be each other’s mentors and role models, playing off each other’s strengths)
• Rationalisation of roles (with buy-in from team members).

COMPANY

The company had put in place some practices that were fuelling conflict, primarily:

• A clash between competence, seniority and compensation of acquired teams vs. core team
• Moving targets on ESOP
• Lack of openness to new ideas, opting instead to focus purely on acquisitions.

In a nutshell, the spirit of the company was changing and the crucial elements that attracted team members to join quickly disappearing.  

OUTCOME

• A cohesive team consisting of committed, competent and collaborative individuals
• Greater communication, transparency and higher levels of trust
• Less friction and improved results
• BUT the company didn’t make the required changes fast enough
• Realising they were not in the right role or company, some team members resigned – some went on to become founders of their own start-up attracting key team members to join them.

A budding entrepreneur wanted to create an investment company focused on Africa.

We helped him define and shape the vision, as well as the values and behaviours he wanted to stand for and demonstrate.

Wanting to ensure he could translate his vision into practice, we tested the principles he had laid out against target investments. This proved to be the bigger challenge since some of the target investments were not in alignment with what he espoused. Moreover, he was happy to justify it with the return they would bring.

Using the values, behaviours and desired return he had set for himself, we challenged his thinking and guided him in exploring alternatives. We mapped out the framework that would enable him to navigate future forks in the road and improve his decision making.

A budding entrepreneur wanted to create an investment company focused on Africa.

We helped him define and shape the vision, as well as the values and behaviours he wanted to stand for and demonstrate.

Wanting to ensure he could translate his vision into practice, we tested the principles he had laid out against target investments. This proved to be the bigger challenge since some of the target investments were not in alignment with what he espoused. Moreover, he was happy to justify it with the return they would bring.

Using the values, behaviours and desired return he had set for himself, we challenged his thinking and guided him in exploring alternatives. We mapped out the framework that would enable him to navigate future forks in the road and improve his decision making.

A new venture had three founding partners all sharing the same vision. However, in trying to deliver on that vision, it became rapidly apparent they had different views on how that vision should be executed. We had to figure out if and how they could best work as a cohesive team.

Conducting one-to-one and group sessions we:

• Mapped out their backgrounds, experiences and geographic exposure
• Profiled their styles of leadership and communication
• Explored their drivers and ambitions, as well as their personal values and principles
• Studied how they interacted and the shift in dynamics depending on who was present
• Identified and aligned divergent perspectives and mindsets
• Facilitated debates on how they should conduct their business and ironed out arising conflicts
• Developed ‘rules of the road’ – guiding principles to work together
• Identified appropriate board members with the right balance of experience, credibility and affinity
• Created an institutional framework equipped to attract and safeguard third party investor capital

 

Behind any successful venture is the dynamics of the people. In this particular case, there were three individuals who came together to form a new investment company. On the face of it, they shared a common vision and belief system, but coming together and delivering something tangible and sustainable is another matter. The three individuals had different professional backgrounds and experiences, two from a corporate background, the other a serial entrepreneur. In addition, they had different geographic exposure. These factors meant they each had different perspectives and standards on how things should be done. We also had to factor in personalities and levels of dominance, whilst ensuring they all had an equal say, especially since they were equal partners from an equity perspective. So the challenge here was how to align them and shift their mindset from being sole operators to creating an institutional framework equipped to attract and safeguard 3rd party investors’ capital. The work consisted of one-to-one sessions with each of the partners, along with combined sessions to create a cohesive way forward. Helping them shape and articulate the vision, values and methodology, we went a step further to ensure they could deliver in alignment with what they proffered to stand for. We tested their values and thesis on potential target investments which provided much debate and ironing out, without the complexity of outside shareholders. This gave them the opportunity to come up with solutions and align themselves as a united front prior to dealing with outside influence. We also identified appropriate board members who provided the right balance of experience, credibility and natural affinity to help foster and drive the mission and purpose of the organisation.