Executive Re-seating
Executive Re-seating:
When the Transition Matters as Much as the Appointment
We manage board-initiated leadership transitions for privately held, PE-backed, founder-led, and government-backed companies across South East Queensland. Quietly.
Re-seating is moving a senior leader out of a role while finding their replacement, all at once, all confidentially.
It is two sensitive jobs running in parallel: managing the incumbent's exit and running the search for whoever replaces them. Get either one wrong and the other one is exposed.
When Executive Re-seating is Needed
A senior executive isn't delivering. The board wants a change before it costs the business, without a public conversation about why.
A genuinely capable executive whose style stopped matching where the company is headed.
A founder is stepping back. The handover needs months, not a press release.
A PE sponsor needs an operational leadership upgrade between fund cycles.
The board has concerns that need acting on quickly, and quietly.
The business is changing direction and the current leader isn't built for the next phase of it.
Our Executive Re-seating Process
Day 1–2
We meet the board privately and get the real context: the sensitivity, the timing, the constraints.
Week 1–3
We start the search for the successor while the incumbent stays in role. All research runs through our own channels.
Week 3–5
We present 3 to 5 vetted candidates to the board and coordinate interviews that stay off the radar.
Week 5–8
We manage the timing of the exit and the entry, and coordinate every piece of communication around it.
Month 2–4
30, 60, and 90-day check-ins with the new executive and the people around them.
Why Boards Trust Us with Executive Re-seating
Most of our work is with privately held, PE-backed, VC-funded, founder-led, and government-backed companies.
Our candidate network is built on 17 years of relationships. Not a database.
We speak directly with chairs, boards, and PE sponsors. No layers in between.
We run the exit and the search at the same time, without either one leaking into the other.
We protect the departing executive's reputation as carefully as we protect the company's.
Competitors don't know. Customers don't notice. Staff aren't rattled.
A poorly managed transition rarely stays contained. It spreads:
- Staff Flight: Key people leave the moment they sense instability at the top.
- Customer Erosion: Major clients start reconsidering the relationship.
- Investor Concern: A messy transition can move the valuation, and not upward.
- Competitor Advantage: Once the market knows, competitors have an opening.
- Replacement Cost: A failed appointment typically costs 2.5 times the annual salary to fix.
Managing a Sensitive Executive Transition?
Start the conversation privately. We respond the same business day.