Use case: Interim CEO
A Westwick Melrose & Cromwell Partner just finished an interim CEO assignment, a role initially expected to last six months but extended to ten for a good reason. One Saturday morning, a call was received from a lawyer informing that the CEO of a family office had suffered a burnout and left abruptly. The family needed a rapid solution.
A prompt response was provided. Four days after the call, the assignment as the interim CEO of the family office began. The family office was in the midst of a complex negotiation, which was pursued, adjusted, and successfully concluded over nearly five months.
Beyond completing the negotiation, several dysfunctional areas within the family office were identified, which likely contributed to the burnout. With the family's support, these issues were addressed:
Reestablished adherence to basic compliance rules.
Restructured the team by replacing a toxic individual with someone who understood the concept of loyalty.
Reset the interaction between the family and the family office team.
Eventually, once things were back on track, the family's trusted headhunter was contacted, and the right CEO for the family office was found, returning operations to "business as usual." The mission was accomplished, demonstrating our commitment to getting things done.