What happens when a CEO who once saved his company from bankruptcy is now faced with his own ‘expiration date’?
In an Eastern European country, we spent a day and a half working with CEO Alex and his remarkably stable management team thirteen years together without a single change, true ‘brothers in arms’. Despite their success, they found themselves in the midst of an inevitable transition process. How do you guide an organization through such a fundamental shift, where letting go and handing over are at the very core?
The question we were initially asked to address concerned the company’s future a rather general topic. But as we began the work, the real themes that emerged were letting go, trust, and new beginnings.
Alex, the owner, had saved the company after its previous (Italian) owner went bankrupt. Today, the business is thriving, producing an exceptionally complex product and exporting it to over a hundred countries worldwide.
In all our years working with teams and organizations, we have never encountered such a stable, coherent, and productive management team a team that has remained together in the same composition for thirteen years without any turnover.
“The metaphor of special forces comes to mind,” said Dees. Bravery, loyalty, pride, and honor. And with a sharp focus. Indeed, they agreed that in some way they were brothers in arms and that doing business was a way to bring something good and humane. This stable configuration, so to speak, could have carried on indefinitely planning, executing, achieving, and succeeding, all from within a company firmly oriented toward the future.
And yet, suddenly, there appeared what we call the evolutionary force: a power that comes at you whether you want it or not, sweeping you into a new phase, into something that must come. Here, the emphasis is much more on confrontation than on voluntary planning.
Alex was, in effect, propelled into the next phase of his life, with many new perspectives and a great deal of potential. Consequently, his “expiry date” as CEO suddenly had arrived. So, whether they liked it or not, both he and the management team were abruptly drawn into a transition process.
What we did with Alex and his managers were step-by-step processes that were often very emotional and moving. Below is a brief insight into what we did and why.
We distinguish different phases in a transition process, which can take quite a bit of time.
1) The First Trigger: “The Call”
In Alex’s case, it manifested as physical discomfort, overwhelming fatigue, a remarkable encounter, and the realization that he was stuck in his life. Although he had tried to deny it for a while, it was now evident that he could no longer ignore it and needed to do something about it. In this phase, we held two brief online meetings with him to explore and deepen his inquiry.
2). The Commitment: “Saying Yes”
From the first phase emerged a clear commitment from Alex to take action with all its implications. He then discussed it with the management team, resulting in a shared commitment to collectively explore the way forward, despite the inherent uncertainties. Although the initial alignment was mainly top-down and used the language of organizational vision—with directions, plans, goals, and KPIs—the underlying currents only became vivid during the one-and-a-half days of intensive work with the entire team.
3) Letting Go: “Letting Go”
In this phase, old patterns surfaced unmistakably, and subtle resistance became evident. It was palpable that long-established ways of operating were coming to an end due to the announced departure of Alex as CEO. It also became crystal clear that the past still influenced everyday decision-making.
We began by working for half a day with only Alex and his ex-wife, who plays a significant role in the business and will continue to do so in the future. Family and business relationships had become deeply interwoven, requiring a careful process of untangling and reconnecting in a new form.
Supporting Alex and providing him with insights to disentangle from his current life phase.
Over recent years, his private relationships had slowly become dysfunctional. To free himself for the next phase of his life, he needed not only to acknowledge and close chapters on previous relationships but also to reclaim key aspects or qualities of his personality that he would require for the rest of his life. Another important part was to put an end to “the tabulation” of past debts, closing this chapter without an unconscious sense of entitlement to maintain a balance of give and take.
Exploring Alex’s deeper motivation for buying and saving the company.
In his professional life, Alex had been unconsciously influenced by his family history—especially by a great-grandfather who died in World War I and by another relative who had longed for exactly the kind of product that Alex’s company now successfully produces. His great-grandfather turned out to be the true inspiration behind his company, while the other relative was deeply connected to the origin of their products. This realization allowed many pieces of the puzzle to fall into place. Alex cautiously and deliberately began to detach himself from the compulsive aspects of this family legacy a freedom that would prove to be important for the company under his successors.
With each management team member each of whom had been part of the company long before Alex bought and saved it we explored the qualities they had developed during the crisis that ensued when Alex took over.
Through a timeline exercise, every manager became aware of strengths they had developed during difficult times, including hidden talents of which they were previously unaware. It was valuable to rediscover these underutilized strengths with their colleagues as witnesses. This process enabled them to optimally leverage their individual strengths and the differences between them rather than compromising with each other.
Discovering what the company meant to each of them and still means.
For some, the company was “home,” for others “family” or even a “laboratory.” They were all strongly connected to the business, albeit in different ways. By naming and discussing these connections, it became possible to let go of the “brothers in arms” mentality and create space for something new, even if that new direction was still unclear.
4) The Void: “The Void”
This phase was characterized by uncertainty no longer clearly understanding who we are as an organization. Traditional planning and control mechanisms no longer functioned as before. However, it also presented an opportunity to explore and experiment without the immediate pressure for results. The focus shifted more toward “being” than “doing.”
Plenary exchange of thoughts, ideas, and especially resonance.
Participants learned to listen to one another in a way that promoted genuine understanding, without descending into debates or arguments. The process emphasized picking up on what resonated on a deeper level not merely agreeing or approving, but discerning what “makes sense.”
5) New Possibilities: “Approaching”
In this phase, new patterns began to crystallize. New roles and responsibilities emerged, and previously undiscovered opportunities were revealed. Importantly, there was a growing confidence in the new direction.
Mapping the organization without Alex as CEO.
Through various setup exercises, both the current situation with Alex as CEO and the future system structure post-departure were explored. In the guided process, each manager found their place in the new organization. A central question was whether the company should remain more market-driven (dynamic) or become more production-oriented (stable). The exploration made it clear that, at least for the upcoming phase, stability was more important than market expansion.
6) Anchoring
This is the phase of consolidation. New guiding principles became clear, team roles were reassigned and accepted, and a (new) identity started to feel natural an identity that could be explained easily to others.
Creating clarity and commitment over the company’s future course.
Establishing these guiding principles answering the question of what we essentially are for our customers worldwide, as well as what we are as a management team for the organization played a pivotal and directional role. From these principles emerged the new structure. All managers agreed on the new setup and their roles within it, thereby preventing future confusion or tensions regarding the company’s direction and individual responsibilities.
Announcing the new CEO.
Alex revealed which two managers would jointly lead the company from the CEO position. This openly confirmed what had been previously agreed upon with these two leaders and what was already felt by the rest of the team, albeit informally.
Alex officially hands the company over to the managers.
This was the most emotional moment. While you can always see the management team, the company as a whole is not a tangible entity. Yet, it was something you could work with effectively. Alex addressed the company as an entity, expressing his trust in the managers and officially handing over control. He was acutely aware of how much it meant to him to pass on the leadership. All the managers recognized his emotion, and they felt both moved and committed toward the overall organization and its individual parts.
The quality of the succession process is crucial for the next phase of a company and its leaders.
This may be one of the key topics addressed during The Next Phase: a 2-day systemic intensive for CEOs, managing directors, and executive leaders, taking place on 17 & 18 November 2025.
Click here for full details.
This 2-day intensive is in Dutch.
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