THE BUSINESS CATALYST PROGRAMME
HOW IT WORKS
Who is the Business Catalyst Programme for?
We provide an independent, industry-agnostic approach for CEOs and their leadership teams who want to make and execute better strategic decisions. Typical clients include:
A new CEO who has inherited an existing team and wants to refresh their approach.
A leadership team who work well together though perhaps sometimes unimaginatively during good times, but lose their sense of collective responsibility in more challenging times.
A CEO who is facing a complex and strategically important challenge and because of time pressures could use additional short-term assistance.
We can be the stranger in the room who encourages candour, helps to instigate change and provides short-term support as a confidential sounding board for the CEO. Our fresh and focused approach brings everyone together in an efficient way.
What are the benefits?
We provide much more than a quick fix for complicated business challenges. We help leadership teams design a winning strategy that has the buy-in of all stakeholders and is built on the contribution and commitment of the whole team.
The programme is designed to be effective within a short time scale of about 8-12 weeks, requiring dedication and hard work from all participants involved. The aim is that this focused approach can then be tailored by the team to help make other strategic decisions in the future.
How does it work?
The Business Catalyst Programme approach comprises three key pillars to deliver the optimal strategy through one-to-one discussions and group workshops. Although these pillars are described below using as an example the challenge of launching a new product line, the approach is similar for other strategic challenges.
Diagnose: For the first stage, we work with the team to get clarity on the issues that need to be addressed and to identify the value drivers for the target market. Together we define the criteria that we will use to judge potential solutions. We also look at how the team could work better together.
Design: Next, we work with the team to design and evaluate potential strategies, incorporating fresh thinking and market research where available. Importantly, this work is centred around the value drivers for the target market i.e. using a customer lens, rather than what may be easiest for the team to deliver. This results in a shortlist of potential strategies ranked against the evaluation criteria from which the CEO and the team choose their preferred strategy.
Deliver: Finally, we work with the team to de-risk the proposed strategy, with a clear plan for execution including transition steps and responsibilities within the executive team. The team also review how they can use their experience in the programme to improve their future decision-making. After three months, we review the progress to date on the strategic challenge being addressed and look at whether any adjustments need to be made.
Where assistance is required beyond the Business Catalyst Programme, we also offer one-on-one executive support and assessment. You can find out more about these services here.
If you want to find out more, please get in touch with us at info@longacreadvisory.com
How do we support private equity-backed management teams?
The key responsibility of the CEO in a private-equity backed company is to build the business with a view to exiting it as soon as the returns are sufficiently attractive. We help CEOs lead their teams through a time of intensive change towards a successful exit. Watch the video to find out more.