And what changed his mind about employee ownership

3 owners
4 senior leaders
1 deal that almost didn’t happen

When senior leadership approached the three owners about transitioning the company to employee ownership, two were open to exploring it. The timing felt right. The business was in good shape. The team was strong. 

But the third owner shut it down before it could go anywhere. 

Not out of selfishness or disinterest in the people around him, he shut it down because he genuinely didn’t believe the leadership team was ready. He’d never seen the value in employee ownership; his peers told him he wouldn’t get full value, and he didn’t think handing the business to the existing leaders was a responsible thing to do. To him, it felt like passing his ~25 years of blood, sweat and tears to a team who just weren’t ready to lead. 

Then something shifted 

An open discussion about what employee ownership actually looks like in practice and specifically, what it looks like for the people being handed the keys. 

Because one thing that often gets missed in early EO conversations is the leadership readiness strategy. 

“Are the people we’re transitioning to genuinely prepared to lead, own and grow this business without us?”  

When our approach was outlined – how we support leadership teams before, during and long after the transition – something shifted. 

By giving incoming owner-leaders genuine support, frameworks, templates, governance and structures that help them think like owners, not just managers. It helps builds their confidence before they need it. 

By the end of the conversation, the owner who’d shut the whole thing down wanted to know everything.  

Why this story matters 

In many cases the deals that stall, don’t stall because of the complexity or the structure of the transition itself. 

They often stall because of the owners not being able to let go. 

Doubt from owners who love their businesses and are worried about what happens to them after they step back. Doubt about whether the people they’re handing over to are truly ready. Doubt about whether EO is the right succession path. 

That doubt deserves to be taken seriously. It could be one of the most important signals in the room, because it means the owner cares deeply about what they’ve built. 

What “readiness” actually means in an EO transition 

The leadership teams that often thrive post-transition aren’t necessarily the ones with the most experience or the longest tenure. They’re the ones who’ve been  prepared. Who’ve been given space to think strategically before they had to and who understand the mindset shift that comes with moving from employee to co-owner. 

That preparation can start anywhere from two years before a transition or it can start three months before. The principle stays the same: you don’t hand someone a business and hope for the best. You walk alongside them until they’re ready to run. 

• Pre-transition – working with the leadership team on business goals, future vision, governance structures, financial literacy, strategic planning and the psychological shift from leader to co-owner. 

• During the transition – making sure the legal, financial and structural elements of the deal are explained in plain language – so everything is easily understood. No jargon just facts. 

• Post-transition – Checking in. Being available to support when the first hard decision lands on the new owners’ desk and there’s no founder to call. 

A note to business owners 

If you’ve looked at your leadership team and thought “I’m not sure they could run this without me” – follow-up with: have they ever been given the conditions and the support to find out? 

Senior leaders in SMEs execute within a structure someone else has built, it’s the natural result of the environment they’ve operated in. They’ve been rewarded for delivering, not for owning. 

Employee ownership can help reshape that environment and introduces the mindset of an ‘Intrapreneur’ – an owner from within. 

The readiness gap is real, but with the right structure, the right support and enough lead time, leadership teams can, over-time, be developed into genuine owner-leaders. 

And if you’re sitting in a conversation right now thinking “I’m not sure this is right for us” -we’re not suggesting you ignore it, maybe just explore the possibility of it. Because the answer might not be ” a definitive no.” It might just be “not yet” and let’s work with someone who can help us move towards a ‘yes’ .

Illustrative example based on aggregated real-world scenarios, some details have been changed to preserve confidentiality. VOA202601