FIT TO LEAD

Sparring Partner for Portfolio CEOs and PE Partners

Leadership quality decides whether the deal delivers

The Characters

The PE Partner or Portfolio CEO

You're a private equity partner or portfolio CEO under pressure to deliver the value creation plan - fast.

You've seen what happens when the leadership isn't up to it:

The wrong CEO gets appointed

The leadership team drifts, delaying execution

The culture burns out before the exit clock runs out

You've optimised the financial model. Now optimise the human one.

The Problem

In PE, the people lever is still the least measured and most consequential

73%

of PE-backed CEOs don't survive the hold period - and 58% are replaced within two years (AlixPartners/Vardis, 2017).

46%

of PE firms say unplanned CEO turnover is eroding their IRR (AlixPartners, 2018).

50%

of externally hired executives fail in the role (DDI, 2021).

Each statistic represents millions in lost value. In a sector obsessed with precision in financial modelling, this casual approach to human capital represents an extraordinary blind spot.

The Guide

My Role

I've lived on both sides of the private equity table - as a top-quartile investment partner and now as an operating partner, board advisor, and sparring partner to over thirty portfolio leadership teams. I bring investor-grade rigour to the human side of value creation.

At times I coach, giving you space to think. At times I mentor, offering a view from experience. At times I spar, disagreeing when I think you're missing something. The judgement stays yours. The thinking gets sharper.

The Plan

The Life Cycle of Human-Centred Value Creation

De-risking execution from Due Diligence to Exit.

Pre-Deal
1
Strategic Management Due Diligence
Appointment
2
CEO Hiring & Evaluation
First Six Months
3
First Six Months
Hold Period
4
CEO Coaching & Mentoring
 
5
Team Coaching
 
6
Founder Coaching & Mentoring
Exit Prep
7
Exit-Ready Leadership Team & Succession Planning
Stage
Focus
What you get
Pre-Deal
Strategic Management Due Diligence
Spot execution risk before it hits returns. I assess leadership capability, team cohesion, and cultural alignment against the specific investment thesis - quantifying the "people delta" before you sign.
Appointment
CEO Hiring & Evaluation
Select with conviction. Using the FOCUS methodology, I link candidate capability directly to the Value Creation Plan. This reduces failure risk and significantly shortens the "time to traction."
First Six Months
First Six Months
Win the deployment phase. I partner with the CEO to build alignment, establish a rigorous operating rhythm, and generate investor confidence fast - creating early momentum that compounds through the hold.
Hold Period
CEO Coaching & Mentoring
Sharpen judgement under pressure. In high-stakes PE environments, technical skill is rarely the point of failure; judgement and temperament are. I go beyond standard coaching to upgrade the CEO's internal operating system - enabling them to navigate complexity with clarity and lead with sustainable intensity.
Hold Period
Team Coaching
Turn talent into collective velocity. A group of capable executives is not necessarily a leadership team. Most PE-backed exec teams are assembled, not designed - impressive individuals within a mediocre team. I work with the team as a system, so they execute the Value Creation Plan as one unit rather than in parallel.
Hold Period
Founder Coaching & Mentoring
Match founder fire with PE-grade discipline. I help the founder either step up into the CEO role the company now needs, or step aside cleanly - without the business paying twelve months of emotional tax on a drawn-out transition. Either way, the founder mindset survives; the chaos doesn't.
Exit Prep
Exit-Ready Leadership Team & Succession Planning
Protect the exit multiple. I build the leadership depth and continuity buyers want to see. A clear succession plan and a cohesive team are visible signals of "risk-free" execution for the next owner.

The Tools

Proven Frameworks

A suite of frameworks built for private equity.

Each translates strategy into measurable human-capital results, linking leadership performance directly to value creation.

Management Due Diligence icon
Management Due Diligence

Confirm less. Uncover more. Management DD that tests the team against the thesis, not the CV - so people risk surfaces before signing, not at month twelve.

Find Out More
CEO Evaluation and Selection icon
CEO Evaluation & Selection

Select with conviction. Using the FOCUS methodology, I help you hire with discipline: replace gut feel with evidence-based hiring and succession planning.

Find Out More
First Six Months CEO Accelerator icon
First Six Months

Align quickly with the board, pressure-test the plan and top team, and lock in cadence and scoreboards so progress is visible, early wins build credibility, mistakes are prevented and problems get fixed before they compound.

Find Out More
CEO Coaching and Mentoring icon
CEO Coaching & Mentoring

In high-stakes PE environments, judgement and temperament can often be points of failure. I go beyond standard coaching to strengthen a leader's internal operating system.

Find Out More
Founder Coaching and Mentoring icon
Founder Coaching & Mentoring

Help rewire the leadership operating system quickly, so founder fire is matched with PE-grade discipline.

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Team Coaching icon
Team Coaching

Turn individual talent into collective velocity: clearer debate, faster alignment, fewer work-arounds, and stronger accountability, so execution accelerates rather than getting trapped in silos or politics.

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Facilitated Workshops icon
Facilitated Workshops

From translating the investment thesis into a strategy and VCP the team owns, to board offsites and leadership team design - working sessions that end in decisions, not documents.

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Coaching for PE Directors and Partners icon
Coaching for PE Directors & Partners

Partners spend their careers assessing others - and almost never get honest challenge themselves. I coach investors through the shifts that matter, from leading deals to leading the firm.

Find Out More

Who I Work With

For CEOs

  • First Six Months: Align fast with the board, pressure-test the thesis, and deliver early wins that build credibility.
  • Founder-to-CEO transition: Rewire mindset to PE pace, align with the Chair, make tough people calls, and build credibility with investors.
  • The experienced CEO upgrade: Upgrade your internal operating system to navigate rising complexity, and push beyond your comfort zone to ensure your leadership continues to scale.

For Leadership Teams

  • From functions to one team: Break silos, create commitment to collective outcomes, and build psychological safety for real debate and accountability.
  • Hire and plan with discipline: Replace gut feel with evidence-based hiring and succession planning.
  • Measure what matters: Align KPIs and operating rhythm with value drivers to cut noise and drive execution discipline.
  • Board that drives value: Sharpen debate, decision-making, and investor-facing communication through a clear board charter.
  • Strategy and Value Creation into action: Translate the investment thesis into a Strategy and VCP that the team owns and executes.

For C-Suite & Key Value-Creation Roles

  • Succession & bench strength: Build depth in critical roles and validate readiness to protect timing and value.
  • Accelerating impact: Coach CXOs and others in key value creation roles to lift decision quality and execution pace - operating confidently at PE speed.

For PE Directors and Partners

  • The Director-to-Partner transition: From executing deals to originating them - building your own franchise, your own judgement, and your own name in the market.
  • The Partner-to-Leader transition: From leading deals to leading the firm - developing your people, shaping firm strategy, and building the reputation that raises the next fund.
The Evidence
Why This Works
The data is unequivocal: leadership quality is one of the most significant multipliers of PE performance, and one of the few remaining untapped sources of alpha.
30%
Leadership explains 15% of portfolio financial performance and 30% of valuation variance.Summit Leadership Partners
2.5×
"Talent-centric" portfolios hit first-year targets 80% of the time and deliver 2.5× ROI on leadership investment.Bain, Global Private Equity Report
3-4×
Companies investing 1.5-2× more in leadership than peers generate 3-4× returns on that investment.CLC/CEB, via McKinsey
The firms mastering the human dimension of PE consistently outperform on both returns and resilience. This isn't a trade-off between people and profits - it's the recognition that today's path to superior financial performance runs directly through human-capital excellence.
"The winning PE firms in the age of AI will be those who recognise that the number one route to profit growth is people growth."
Mark Farrer-Brown - in my feature for Camino Search's The Global Report

The Transformation

From Before to After

Before
  • Gut-feel hiring
  • Vague accountability, slow execution
  • Fragmented team dynamics
  • Burnout culture under pressure
  • Board firefighting
  • Leadership risk at exit
After
  • Evidence-based hiring
  • Investor-grade operating rhythm
  • Cohesive leadership teams and boards
  • Sustainable, performance-led culture
  • Leadership managed with the same rigour as financials
  • Buyer-ready narrative with visible leadership depth
The Philosophy
"Talent isn't a soft variable; it's the multiplier of every other lever."
When private equity applies its trademark discipline to people, the results are measurable, repeatable, and compounding. Leadership becomes the engine room of growth, not a constraint on it.

What Clients Say

“Mark possesses a deep understanding of leadership dynamics and a remarkable ability to guide and inspire. I gained valuable insights into my leadership style and developed a more strategic and effective approach which benefitted my colleagues and investors.”

PE Managing Partner

“Advice is everywhere, but it’s often influenced by commercial interests, personal relationships, or emotion. Mark is different. He brings independent thinking, objectivity and the benefit of genuine experience - without an agenda.”

Alex Johnson

Founder & CEO of a PE-backed business

“Through patience and persistence, he skilfully helps you find your own answers. And they are the answers you need, rather than the answers you initially think you need.”

Paul Christensen

Co-Founder & CEO

“Having Mark as a coach is like having multiple other CEOs to talk to at the same time.”

Alex Preece

Co-Founder & CEO, Tillo

“Mark brings rare expertise as an investor and business leader. He incisively cuts through noise to unbiased, practical solutions for our thorniest issues.”

Sam Smith

Founder & CEO, PepTalks

More testimonials

Experience across the PE ecosystem, including work with leaders at and backed by:
Horizon Capital
August Equity
Oaktree Capital
Total Capital
Bestport Ventures
Piper

The Guide’s Credentials

Mark Farrer-Brown

Career Experience

  • CEO & Founder: Fit to Lead | Leadership advisory for PE-backed companies
  • Operating Partner: Roycian | Investment Committee member and partner with portfolio CEOs
  • Former Partner: Risk Capital Partners | Top-quartile investor returns across consumer and B2B sectors
  • Honorary Member & CEO Facilitator: PepTalks | Peer-learning platform for PE-backed leaders
  • Coach & Mentor: Boardwave | Europe’s community for software CEOs

Professional Qualifications & Training

  • Graduate: Meyler Campbell’s “Mastered” Coaching Programme (Accredited by the Association for Coaching)
  • Team Coaching Foundation & Practitioner Certified Coach: Global Team Coaching Institute (GTCI)
  • Certified Practitioner: Hogan (Leadership & Team), PERILL (Team & Culture), PrinciplesUs (Team & Culture), MyWorldView (Adult Development)
  • Chartered Accountant (ICAEW)
  • BSc (Hons) Management Sciences: University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology (specialising in Organisational Psychology)
Let's turn leadership into your next source of alpha.
If you want to:
  • Protect returns by making hiring as evidence-based as your investment thesis.
  • Strengthen CEO and team performance within the first six months and sustain it throughout the hold period.
  • Embed a performance culture that compounds value - turning leadership into your most reliable driver of growth.

Let's talk

A confidential conversation about where leadership could move the needle in your portfolio.

Get in touch

Or read the essays

Hiring for Attributes Over Experience: Why Yesterday's Playbook Fails Tomorrow's CEOs The Light Grip: How PE CEOs Stay Credible When They Don't Know Yet Explore Between Thesis and Exit