Key Takeaways 
    • Team Approach, defined as “a sponsor’s capacity to take a highly collaborative and sincere approach to partnering with management,” is one of PE-CXO’s Nine Dimensions of Governance Fit® that enables executive success. 
    • Executives must evaluate a sponsor’s Team Approach as rigorously as they assess that sponsor’s investment thesis, deal quality, or financial performance. 
    • Sponsors who clearly communicate their governance and collaboration style during the interview process are more likely to attract executives whose work styles align with their model. 

Our Top 50 Private Equity Firms for Executives of 2025 Report revealed that executives increasingly view a collaborative, supportive sponsor not as a bonus, but as a core requirement for success. The absence of a strong Team Approach often causes misalignment, leading to executive turnover and eroded returns.  

To build stronger, value-driven partnerships, executives and sponsors alike must understand how Team Approach influences outcomes, how to diligence for it during hiring, and how to cultivate it throughout the sponsor-executive partnership.  

The Impact of Team Approach

 The data revealed multiple ways an aligned Team Approach is critical to driving both value creation and executive retention:  

  • In the past year, the share of executives who ranked Team Approach as their top priority rose from 31% to 45%, compared to other critical factors like a sponsor’s investment thesis and ability to add value.  
  • 92.7% of executives would not return to work for a sponsor who did not collaborate with management or utilize their expertise.  
  • Team Approach was the most frequently cited factor in executives’ sponsor feedback. 72% of all positive reviews mentioned Team Approach, and it was also the top complaint in negative reviews when absent.  
  • Executives who had voluntarily exited a PE-backed role mid-hold consistently rated Team Approach as one of the most influential factors in their decision to leave. 

Not all executives experience Team Approach equally. CEOs were far more likely to report strong alignment, with 64% strongly agreeing that their sponsor was collaborative and trusted management. By contrast, commer...