SBT Leadership Shift™
Ownership & Transformation
For private equity funds, M&A boutiques, investors and Boards managing the leadership risk of an acquisition, an ownership transfer or a change of control.
Financial and legal due diligence rarely reach the people who will actually carry the value: the leadership team the new owner inherits. Examined only after the transaction closes, gaps in that team surface in exactly the period an organisation can least afford them, during the transition itself.
It starts with a diagnostic
The defined base of this Shift: one diagnostic, three core programmes and one accountable mission lead.
- Duration
- 5 to 9 months
- Scope
- 1 diagnostic + 3 core programmes
- Steering
- 1 accountable mission lead
- Fee
- Fixed, confirmed after scoping
- Leadership only — 8 to 10 interviews, the executive committee.
- Full organisation — around twenty interviews, across the leadership team and the organisation.
- Full organisation, AI-inclusive — the above, plus a reading of AI readiness and tooling.
The three programmes run in sequence, in this order.
Executive Assessment
Evaluation across ten dimensions: capabilities, leadership style, motivations, cultural alignment. Psychometric tools suited to the role and context, combined with interviews led by senior advisors, coaches or organisational psychologists.
Contribution to the Shift: gives the fund or Board an evidence-based read on who to retain, develop or replace, before continuity and integration decisions are locked in.
Practice leadAntoine LeygonieLeading Partner · Leadership & Talent DevelopmentM&A & Leadership Continuity
Human capital due diligence, leadership mapping and retention strategy, integration and governance alignment, then monitoring through the first 90 to 180 days.
Contribution to the Shift: secures the people the deal's value actually depends on, through the transaction itself.
Practice leadLaurent RiffaultLeading Partner · Succession & Future LeadershipBoard & Strategic Alignment
Aligning Boards, leaders and key stakeholders around shared priorities, governance principles and decision-making frameworks. Alignment cannot be imposed; it is built through structured work.
Contribution to the Shift: installs the shareholder–Board–CEO decision cadence the transaction needs to run on.
Practice leadFabrice GattiLeading Partner · Board & Organisational EffectivenessAssessment identifies who to retain, develop or replace, continuity planning secures them through the transition, and alignment gives the resulting team and Board a shared cadence to execute what comes next.
- The Human Capital & Leadership Risk Review and the three core programmes detailed above.
- Coordination by one accountable mission lead across experts, decisions, deliverables and check-ins.
- A map of human-capital risk and who to retain, develop or replace, an aligned Board–leadership cadence to execute the transition, and a 100- to 180-day action plan.
- 5 to 9 months, scoped to the three core programmes above; anything beyond is quoted separately.
Not part of the base fee. Added only if the diagnostic identifies the need, and quoted separately.
Succession Planning
When it appliesWhen the deal's value depends on bench strength beyond the leaders already assessed.What it addsCritical role mapping, readiness assessment, and scenario-based succession plans on a 12 to 36-month horizon. These plans are aligned with the organisation's governance and future priorities.
Practice leadLaurent RiffaultSuccession Transition
When it appliesWhen a CEO or general manager takes the role after a sale or acquisition.What it addsA structured transition programme for a CEO or general manager taking the role after a sale or acquisition: aligning with the new owners' expectations and securing the relationships most at risk in the first months.
Practice leadAntoine LeygonieSeveral modules combined are scoped and quoted as a set.