The reason we put a heavy emphasis on leadership in the selection process is because we believe that strong, compelling leadership is essential to the long-term success of an organization.

We assess leadership by seeing how well the organization’s leaders are doing what they say they’re doing and how consistently they have created value and achieved significant gains. We seek leaders who have shown creativity and resourcefulness in working through difficult problems. We look for cases in which they have stepped outside of their comfort zones to achieve marked progress for their organizations. We consider their success in recruiting and retaining talented and committed team members, and we look at how well they’ve aligned all members of the organization toward a common goal. We gauge the willingness of the leaders to engage honestly with new partners, to explore different ways of doing things, and to accept and use advice.

In all of these assessments, we try not to hold people up to an unrealistic ideal. We consider these issues within the context of the challenges they face and in comparison to the achievements of others in similar roles.

Our goal as an investment partner is to encourage and support these leaders so they can further develop their impressive talents and build on their strengths to fulfill their own potential and that of their organizations.