From carrying the business to sharing the load - How Kensington Partners built a leadership team ready for succession.
After nearly two decades of running Kensington Partners, Wayne French found himself in a position many business owners know well. He had capable people around him, a senior management team with real talent, but he wasn't actually using them properly.
I felt I had this senior management group around me that I wasn't really utilising to make my life easier, to be honest.
Wayne French, Owner, Kensington Partners
The situation was becoming increasingly urgent. Wayne needed to refresh the business, but he didn't want to lose talented people who had simply outgrown their roles. More importantly, he needed a way to genuinely engage his senior leadership group in running the business, not just working in it.
Wayne had built something successful, but the traditional hierarchical structure was preventing him from distributing leadership effectively. His leadership team had the capability, but lacked the framework and authority to truly take ownership.
You build a business around yourself, and then that very structure becomes the thing holding everyone back.
Wayne's relationship with Adapt founder Bill Withers gave him early insight into the Adapt methodology. What he saw was a structured approach to solving exactly the problem he faced.
Wayne began involving his leadership team in strategic planning. Rather than simply delegating tasks, he brought them into the process of setting strategy for the business. "They were involved in helping me set the strategy," Wayne explains.
They were leaders in parts of the business. It was really bringing them into that part of the business where they were working on it with me, not just in it.
Wayne French
The cultural work proved particularly valuable in this transformation. "The CVTs (Career Valuation Tool) are amazing," Wayne notes. "Even just drawing more awareness towards the values of the business and really embedding them deeper and having them as real things, not just words on a wall."
This wasn't just about the process, though. Wayne worked with his Adapt coach, who helped navigate the sometimes uncomfortable transition of sharing decision-making authority. The Resilient Business Assessment gave Wayne crucial insight into how he was performing as a leader compared to the rest of the group, feedback that proved essential for growth. Knowing you need to change is one thing. Seeing exactly where you stand is another.
The results were both immediate and long-lasting. Wayne achieved what he had set out to do. He built genuine staff retention at the senior level, driven by real engagement rather than just compensation. "I could see that they had a sense of ownership of the business without legally owning it," Wayne says.
I'd definitely say staff retention at a senior level was something that I put down to involving them in the Adapt programme.
Wayne French
The true test came when Wayne's business circumstances changed. His previous business partner departed, and Wayne was approached about a potential acquisition. The leadership team he had developed through Adapt was ready to step up. "That left me with the leadership group that was primed to take on the role to help me run it," Wayne recalls.
It worked really well. It was exactly what I needed at the time.
Wayne French
The story doesn't end there. Wayne is now applying the same methodology, working again with Adapt, to bring his new partners through the process. His senior team from Kensington Partners remain engaged and will be the next to move into leadership roles within the broader organisation.
"I honestly believe in it. I just feel like it's part of my DNA," Wayne says of the Adapt methodology. "I don't think people yet have appreciated how powerful it can be."
For Wayne, the Adapt programme delivered something many business owners struggle to achieve. It gave him a genuine pathway from being the sole decision-maker to building a leadership team capable of running the business, whether that means succession to the existing team or, as in his case, a successful transition to new ownership with key people intact and engaged.