Mandate Reset™
From unclear governance to hard-coded CEO–Board decision rights in 48 hours.
A private two-day intervention to restore CEO authority, board alignment and decision speed.
For PE-backed CEOs, boards and investors navigating post-deal complexity, shifting governance and realign for exit.
By invitation and confidential intake. Limited to six Mandate Resets per year — Málaga
Why mandate drift happens
Mid-market leadership is under unprecedented pressure.
Yesterday’s "Growth at all Costs" mandate is today’s "Capital Efficiency" mandate. If the CEO and the Board aren't reading from the same script, value is leaking out of the business.
Mandate drift rarely starts with conflict. It often appears after a transaction or growth phase. Are you experiencing:
The Transparency Gap: Boards feel under-informed, CEOs feel micromanaged.
VCP Stagnation: The Value Creation Plan has hit a plateau.
The Pivot Paradox: The market has changed, but the CEO’s original "marching orders" haven't.
The board becomes more active, governance layers expand, investor oversight increases, and decision rights become less explicit
Over time, the assumed mandate and the real mandate diverge.
Decisions slow. Authority becomes less clear.
This is where companies don’t fail, but underperform.
The Mandate Reset™ restores clarity on CEO authority, board oversight and decision rights.
This is the moment where a Mandate Reset becomes necessary.
Mandates rarely break suddenly.
They drift gradually as governance expands and expectations evolve.
How mandate drift quietly develops in growth companies
A PE-backed company grows quickly after a successful transaction.
The board becomes more involved.
Governance structures expand.
Reporting becomes more detailed.
None of this is problematic in itself.
But gradually the leadership dynamic shifts. Authority becomes less explicit.
Decisions take longer.
Responsibilities overlap.
Expectations become less explicit.
There is no conflict.
No crisis.
Just a quiet erosion of clarity.
And by the time it becomes visible, execution has already slowed.
The Mandate Reset™ creates the space to re-establish a clear leadership mandate for the company’s next phase of growth.
“Mandates don’t break. They drift. And what gets lost first is decision velocity.”
— Steven Piessens
Founder, The Mandate Reset™ | Leadership Governance Advisor
What the 48-Hour Mandate Reset™ delivers
The outcome is not another strategy document.
It is a reset of leadership authority and decision rights.
How the Mandate Reset™ unfolds
Two focused days to surface mandate drift and re-anchor CEO authority.
Day 1 — Expose the mandate drift
A 360° forensic look at the current CEO-Board-Investor triangle:
• Where decision rights actually sit
• Where expectations silently diverge
• Where governance friction slows execution
The goal is to make the invisible gap between the real and assumed mandates visible.
What surfaces on Day 1 gets structurally resolved on Day 2.
Day 2 — Re-write the mandate
We move from "vague expectations" to a hard-coded 18-month execution contract.
• Clear CEO–board decision rights
• Simplified governance and faster decision flow
• Explicit expectations between CEO, board and investors
• A practical mandate roadmap for the next 18 months
The Implementation Loop: Focused, 1-on-1 strategic sparring with the CEO to ensure the new mandate translates to EBITDA.
Outcome: authority is restored, alignment is explicit, execution accelerates.
Applied in companies between €50M–€500M revenue under investor pressure based on work with 50+ leadership teams navigating growth and governance transitions.
Where the Mandate Reset™ becomes relevant
Designed for CEOs and leadership teams operating under active board or private equity governance.
Mandate drift is often triggered by transition moments:
• A transaction or ownership change
• Rapid organisational growth
• A new board composition
• A strategic shift or market transition
When mandate drift becomes visible
In many PE-backed and growth companies, the operating mandate between CEO, board and investors gradually shifts.
Not because anyone failed.
But because the company evolved faster than the mandate did.
Mandate drift often appears after moments of change:
• After a transaction, acquisition or recapitalisation
• When the board composition changes
• When governance expands and decision speed slows
• When CEO and board expectations quietly diverge
• When the company enters a new phase of growth
Over time, the assumed mandate and the real mandate diverge.
Decision rights become less explicit.
Alignment weakens.
Decision velocity slows.
The Mandate Reset™ restores clarity on CEO authority, board oversight and decision rights for the next phase of growth.
“Mandate drift rarely appears as conflict.
It appears as slowing decisions and unclear authority.”
Steven Piessens
— Facilitator of The Mandate Reset™
My work focuses on the moment where governance, growth and leadership authority begin to diverge — when mandate drift becomes visible.
For 25 years, I have worked with CEOs, boards and investors navigating governance transitions as companies scale.
The Mandate Reset™ in Málaga provides a focused setting to step outside the operational environment and restore clarity on authority, governance and decision rights.
Investment
CEO Mandate Reset™
Reclaim clarity, authority and decision rights within your current mandate.
A two-day, CEO-only intervention in Málaga.
Includes preparation and a fully structured reset of role, boundaries and expectations.
€19,500
Outcome: absolute clarity on what you decide, and what is no longer yours to carry.
Board-Level Mandate Reset™
A governance intervention designed for situations where misalignment sits between CEO, Chair and investors.
Focus: redefining expectations, decision boundaries and operating dynamics at the top.
Engaged when misalignment starts impacting decision speed, trust or performance at the top.
Scope and pricing are defined based on stakeholder complexity and governance context.
Limited to six Mandate Resets™ per year.
Each reset requires full strategic immersion at CEO and board level.
Next availability: May 2026.
Optional 90-Day Governance Checkpoint
A one-day intervention to test whether the mandate reset holds under real operating pressure.
€9,500 (+ travel)
Focus:
Where authority slipped back
Where governance friction reappears
What requires structural reinforcement
Designed to be held on-site, where governance dynamics are visible and real.
Not a continuation, a validation under real conditions.
This is often where the real value of the reset becomes visible.
Confidential intake
Don't wait for the quarterly board meeting to address mandate drift.
Conversations are held in strict confidence.
Mandate Reset™
A private two-day intervention when CEO authority and board governance quietly drift apart — and decision velocity begins to slow.
For CEOs, boards and private equity investors navigating post-deal growth and evolving governance.
By invitation and confidential intake. Limited to six Mandate Resets per year — Málaga