The best Investment Partners create a 'secure base' for their juniors

But this doesn't always happen despite good intentions.

A secure base means the team knows the Partner is there to help as issues arise.

With a Partner as a secure base, the team can go off and work through deal issues checking in with the Partner on relevant deal points or problems.

Despite good intentions, many Partners create an in-secure base:
- juniors are afraid to exercise their best judgment
- juniors do exactly what the Partner wants
- Partner doesn't get any leverage
- juniors don't develop

Many of my PE Partner coaching clients are confused by the delta between their Intent and Result as leader:
- I want to empower people to create leverage for me and develop
- My people can't seem to get anything right so I have to spend a lot of time managing them or just do it myself

It all comes down to how the Partner reacts when a team member approaches them with a problem:
a) Partner can jump right into the fixing.
b) Partner can question the thinking of the junior and make junior feel awkward they couldn't figure it out on their own.
c) Partner can acknowledge difficulty of situation, thank junior for bringing it to their attention, and ask how they can help.

Option A is the most common - helpful, but it misses a powerful relationship opportunity to make your team member feel they have a 'secure base' in you. By just going into fix it mode, you don't give them a sense that you appreciate their diligence and that this is an ok way of proceeding going forward. They are left to wonder - are you annoyed, mad, see them as incompetent?

Option B is old school - tough love. This is corrosive, burns people out and demoralizes the staff -- and very common. While many of us grew up on this tough love (our Partners eye rolling, screaming, silent treatment, throwing objects, slamming desks), it's not helpful to creating a functioning team of thinkers - you just create a bunch of scared hostages (like a former version of yourself).

Option C positions you as a secure base. While you may have high standards, you're accepting of reality. You are available to talk through difficult issues, then be available for guidance as the team mate plots their next move. You are not overly prescriptive as to suffocate their exploration and creative process.

It's not easy managing a team at a Private Equity firm. You have a ton of pressure on you. Your elders may have raised you on tough love.

Creating a healthy, thriving, winning team today requires a different approach -- establishing yourself as a 'secure base' for your team.

#executivecoaching #privateequity #bowlby #ainsworth #attachmenttheory