Co-Head / Group Coaching

Your team has an incredible opportunity, but needs a neutral yet provocative third-party to help you communicate and get the best business outcome.

The two or three of you have been working together for a long time. Up until now it’s been, for the most part, easy. You’ve created a substantial firm. But building the business has taken its toll.

In addition to the wins, you’ve also faced setbacks, and this plaque has started to build up on your collective enthusiasm. Maybe there’s even some underlying hostility. How did you get here?

The how doesn’t actually matter. The solution is a third party to help you wade into conflict and tactfully confront the elephant(s) in the room, make necessary adjustments, and then agree on a new strategy and move forward with a revitalized energy.

pivoting
the vision
Moving
Forward
Resolving
Differences
Refocusing
your energy

You are co-heads of a group, or co-founders of a firm. You both took on the mission, in good faith with excitement around a vision to thrive and create a leading franchise.

Time has passed; life happened, and the dream has faded, or vanished.

It’s time to create a new dream, going forward together, with a fresh lens, or uncouple in a way that keeps everyone moving forward in a favorable way.

Your team dynamic can make the boat move forward, or spin in circles.

Your work team is your work family. Families have drama because each person may have a different vision, and differences are not always communicated perfectly.

We will address the elephant(s) in the room, resolve differences in a productive and repeatable way, and get the team’s energy focused on what matters.

Whether you’re a new team, or one which has existed for a while, I’ll help your team refocus your energy and get back to achieving great outcomes.

Why you are seeking Co-Head / Group Coaching:

You are a group co-head, co-founder, or a member of a small partner group.
You’ve been at this a while; reality has occurred. You’d like to clear out the cobwebs and re-energize the firm.
Divergent opinions across the partner group are preventing the firm from maximizing enterprise value.
Perhaps you need to restructure the partnership.
You recognize that if you get and stay emotional, value will be destroyed — better to get to the right answer with a third party mediator.
It’s not about the numbers — it’s the years of wins and setbacks, and the corresponding emotional toll, and potentially hard feelings between you.
 
 

What Happens in a Group Session?

01

Group Sessions happen over Zoom. Wherever we happen to be, we get together virtually, versus the excuses and logistics of in-person.

02

I open the session recapping where we have been and laying out possible topics for today. I then ask all participants what they’d like to address today and if anything else has come up that I should know about.

03

If excavation is needed, we jump right to the core of the disagreement. We have uncomfortable conversation. I exist to make sure the tone stays productive (not polite) and help clarify each person’s position. If we are able to get clear on what everyone wants and honor the emotions behind those needs, we actually have a chance of creating a productive solution together.

04

If we are re-imagining strategy, I exist to go around the horn and make sure each team member is contributing. By gathering all perspectives, I summarize commonalities and areas of key differences.

05

After discovering the true desires and underlying emotions of each co-founder, we agree on a path forward, and at times, table differences to future sessions.

06

The iterative nature of the weekly / biweekly sessions allow us to try new arrangements and then tweak them bases on what’s creating progress and how everyone is feeling about the new strategy.

Common Situations Which Benefit From Co-Head / Group Coaching

  • PE Firm Founders Passing the Torch: Founding an investment firm is an incredibly demanding effort. A decade later, you face the choice: sit there forever and harvest the cash, or create a franchise by stepping back and elevating the next generation. You worked so hard to create the firm, and now the next generation wants meaningful economics and control. How do you balance these competing priorities? No matter how tough you are in business, this is an emotional conversation for you, and it’s emotional for the next generation who’s sweat to help you get where you are. Left alone, these conversations can get ugly. A seasoned third party can help you get to the right answer without all the drama.

  • Firm Founders with Divergent Visions: You started something together years ago and, while you’ve made progress, one of you has a desire to grow and the other wants out. How do we preserve the value of the Enterprise and take care of the team, while allowing someone to move on. How will the LPs take it? How do we message constituents to optimize value and help all move on with grace?

  • New / Established Group Co-Heads: You have an incredible opportunity to create something new together. Perhaps you chose each other, or your firm put you together in an arranged marriage. How do you create a shared strategy, communicate it to the team, and work with each other over time. Inevitably, your partner will do things you don’t agree with: how much rope do you give them versus direct feedback? How do you keep a relationship healthy and functioning over time? When are resets needed?

  • Co-Founders looking to Re-Energize: A decade has passed since you and your partner founded the firm. You never expected you’d accomplish so much together. You have a substantial firm, have explored and shuttered.

Examples of Typical Clients

  • Co-CIOs Mutual Fund: As founder stepped back from business, board enlisted two PMs from separate strategies to co-lead firm. An age gap and difference in personality types created communication friction. One PM was ready to walk out the door. Group coaching allowed us to highlight difference in personalities. Sessions provided safe space to allow for difficult conversations, airing of dirty laundry, and ability to see each other as humans again (rather than villainizing each other). Resulted in more effective and connected working relationship. Continued sessions clear grievances and keep the ship moving forward.

  • Co-Heads of Real Estate Private Equity Strategy: An all star generalist investor and a newly hired subject matter expert were paired to run a multi-billion RE strategy. The two co-heads had to work together masterfully to deploy the capital and communicate strategy to the parent company / board. Given the relative strengths of the co-heads and different background, huge opportunity to help each other — and at the same time, huge risk they could become siloed in their responsibilities. Group coaching provided the venue to iron out difference and agree on a path forward.

  • Five Person Executive Group of Credit Franchise: Two co-founders were stepping back, with three potential successors. Worked with group of five collectively and individually to create a management structure for the next generation. While one felt himself the clear successor, ultimately the solution involved letting him move to another firm, while allowing the other two to co-head the firm. Untangling the knot of ambition and talent took a lot of difficult and then productive conversations. Franchise thriving and LPs are clear on the path forward.

  • Co-Founders of Growth Equity Firm: TBD

  • Co-Founders of Private Investment Fund: TBD