The Leadership
Partner of Choice
Effective leadership is the strongest predictor of exit performance.
We help companies from investor-backed scale-ups to the Fortune 500 build the organisations that match their ambitions.
METHODS | SYSTEMS | QUALITIES
Select Testimonials
“We couldn’t have done it without you.”
Senior Executive
UBS Wealth Management
UBS was named the world’s best private bank for both next-generation clients and family office services in Euromoney’s 2026 Private Banking Awards. It was also recognised as the best in private banking at the 2025 PWM Global Private Banking Awards.
“Having never been coached before, I approached the process with a degree of scepticism, but my coaching experience with Deborah has been transformative. It has been unquestionably worth it.”
CFO
JMAN Group
JMAN was named among Forbes’ World’s Best Management Consulting Firms, and recognised by the Financial Times and Statista as one of the UK’s Leading Management Consultancies for 2026, marking its fifth consecutive year on the list.
“Working with 23MSQ has been genuinely transformative for our organisation. This has been one of the most impactful partnerships we’ve invested in.”
Portfolio CEO
Sun European Partners
Sun European Partners has invested in European businesses for more than 20 years. Funds advised by the firm currently support 13 portfolio companies with combined revenues of €2.5bn and have returned approximately €3bn to investors.
“The team trust Deborah as confidant, and advisor. We work with Deborah every year at the start of the business year, to make sure we are ready for what the year entails.”
CEO
M-KOPA
M-KOPA has been among CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies and ranked by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies for five consecutive years. It was also included in TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies in 2023 and 2024.
Partners
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Founder and Managing Partner
Global transformation & leadership expert
Delivered 15+ global transformations for organisations from 600 to 150,000 staff.
Coached and trained 1,000+ senior leaders from corporate executives to Founder CEOs.
Led cost-transformation programmes delivering >$1bn in savings.
Qualified in psychoanalytic and organisational psychology at UCL Birkbeck and Tavistock.
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Partner
Transformation, value creation & realignment
Led the turnaround of a 3,500 person PE portfolio company by increasing revenues 10x and restoring profitability.
Advised on $3bn+ in Private Equity transactions at McKinsey.
Restructured the UK Department for Education, achieving savings of 33%.
First-Class BA and MPhil from the University of Cambridge in social psychology and political theory.
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Partner
Senior-leader development & talent strategy specialist
Led leadership and talent development for 40% of Goldman Sachs’ global workforce.
Advised PE, hedge fund, and science-driven clients on succession planning, talent review, leadership assessment, and executive coaching.
Delivered senior-level coaching and development for emerging leaders through to C-suite executives.
Holds a PhD in Psychological Research and an MSc in Neuroscience, with coaching training from Columbia Business School.
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Partner
Global talent expert
35+ years advising boards, investors and entrepreneurs across global markets.
Trusted partner to senior leaders delivering enduring leadership outcomes across sectors.
Built and maintains deep global networks of clients and senior executive talent.
Former Executive Committee member at SHREK in strategy and innovation roles.
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Partner
Strategy & executive advisory
Advises founders, boards and executive teams on how their top team actually functions: how decisions get made and owned, and where accountability is clear rather than assumed.
Has spent 20+ years inside executive teams rather than observing them. Roles include Chief of Staff to the CEO of a global investment bank, Global Chief of Staff at Infosys Consulting, and a seat on the executive leadership team of a $1bn investment company.
Brings the operating environment around the top team into focus, spanning structure, decision rights and delivery, alongside the individual capability of its members.
Track record across launch, scale, restructuring and wind-down, most recently leading the governance work that changed a portfolio company's recommendation and executing the wind-down she advised.
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Associate Partner
Senior assessment specialist
15 years at Korn Ferry, advising international businesses, boards and senior leaders on executive assessment, succession, leadership development and organisational effectiveness.
Trusted partner to senior leaders in identifying leadership risk, strengthening board and executive readiness, and improving senior-team effectiveness through assessment and coaching.
Led enterprise-wide talent, leadership and organisational development for a private-equity-backed retailer with €16 billion in revenues, achieving full succession coverage for critical leadership roles and building scalable executive onboarding, leadership and performance systems.
Master’s degree in Psychology, Tavistock certified executive coach and deep expertise in behavioural assessment and potential assessment approaches.
Why Our Work Matters
When PE firms get a CEO change wrong, average IRR drops by ~82% versus getting it right first time.
69% of PE and portfolio leaders cite talent as the most important value driver, ahead of operating efficiency (49%) and organic growth (30%).
Only one-third of portfolio company executives have successors identified for key roles, exposing governance and continuity risk.
Fewer than 1 in 9 PE firms have conducted formal analysis to identify critical “can’t-lose” talent.
58% of PE-backed CEOs are replaced within two years, rising to 73% over the full investment cycle.
Only 7% of CEOs surveyed by Fortune believe their companies are building effective global leaders, and just 10% said that their leadership-development initiatives have a clear business impact.
Sources: Batlaw & Charan (2021); AlixPartners Annual PE Survey (2026); Bililies, Harvard Business Review (2024); McKinsey (2017).
Contact Us
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