CXOs are responsible for the development of a thoughtful and strategic business plan, particularly as they navigate the first 100 days, a critical time period for all stakeholders. In fact, even highly prescriptive sponsors look to the C-suite to set the expectations for the company. If management doesn’t exude confident and strong leadership capabilities and drive the agenda, the likelihood is that sponsors will:

“Go in with a platform and game plan, including identifying signposts that will indicate good performance. Knowing that you’re in control of that is key. When I was a first-time CEO, I didn’t understand that. I learned that it’s so important, because if you’re not on your gameplan, you’re on theirs. The more structured and consistent you can be, the better buy-in you get.”

— Bob Craycraft, multi-exited, PE-backed CEO

Leverage the best practices below to help guide you as you develop and execute a strategic roadmap.

Leading with Confidence: Drive the Agenda from the Start

Given profitability expectations in private equity, a deep dive into the investment thesis, strong communication skills, thorough diligence and expert execution are key to success. That said, knowing where to start and how to do so efficiently in today’s challenging market can prove to be difficult. Approaches may vary but a multi-faceted one per this feedback from a multi-exited executive could yield positive outcomes:

“What I’ve found is the best practice over...