What Holds #5 – Engagement has an order
​

At 12% annual EBITDA growth, you can't afford a confused quarter. And most portcos are bleeding quarters without knowing it.

The old model was easier on everyone. Financial engineering happened somewhere above people's heads. Done to them, not with them. It didn't require them. Not really.

​

That era is over.

​

12% annual EBITDA growth to hit a 2.5x return in five years. Bain's numbers, not mine. And what that actually means is that everyone has to be in. There's no slack for the 40% who are waiting to see how things land.

​​

And yet...

Everyone in that building knows the company is being built to sell. Nobody says it out loud. And the gap between what's said and what everyone already knows gets filled with doubt. Low grade, persistent, and expensive.

​

Engagement isn't a matter of a one off culture initiative. It has an order.

​

Safety before clarity. 
Clarity before freedom. 
Freedom before capability.

​

Most portcos are running capability programmes on top of unspoken fear. Skipping the first three steps and wondering why nothing sticks.

​​

The companies that will hit 12% are the ones where leadership says out loud what everyone already knows. Then builds the conditions. Then runs the programmes.

​
​
Joanna Stone works with PE firms and portfolio companies on the human architecture of change. 

​

​

​

Thoughts on this? I'd love to hear them. Join the conversation on LinkedIn.

​