We are in advanced take-over discussions for our business, but my business partner (we're two partners, he's CEO and I'm COO/CFO) says he has a burnout and is dropping the ball. What should I do?
End of last year, things were still going well. Our pipeline was full, we won some big deals, the team was doing well, ... I even had to hold my partner back in terms of business plan and expectations for the value for our business. But the past months were less rosy. We lost some deals, we sold a deal that turned out to be a bad fit. Nothing exceptional, but my partner seemed to take this very negatively and was beating himself up about these events.
Through all of this, we still continued take-over talks with an interested party, and we got a concrete take-over offer on the table.
My business partner and I had discussed a take-over at length at that point, and we agreed that it was the best way forward for the business, if not the only way forward. We mutually accepted the offer, and the concrete steps to finalise the take-over are now getting started.
Right after the offer, my business partner however indicated he couldn't find the energy to work anymore. He said he was crashing, indicating work issues (the lost deals, the deal we should not have sold), but also mentioning struggles at home (his son requiring a lot of attention, and his wife not being able to take her part of the burden), the lockdown weighing on him and not being able to sleep well. He says he has a burnout, which I don't think is the right diagnosis, but he is talking with his GP and a psychologist.
He is off now for multiple weeks (his GP says he has to stay home for 6 weeks). I can keep the business running in his absence, but I also need to keep the take-over discussions going. It is the best way forward for our business, but my partner being CEO was of course the main contact for our take-over partner, so I have to build the relationship still, while keeping the business running and also showing them that I can keep it running.
How would you approach this?
I am planning on telling the take-over partner that our CEO is sick and will be absent for two weeks, and that he wants me to continue the talks for now. Any other suggestions? Any questions I should anticipate from our take-over partner? Actions I can take? All help is welcome. Thank you. |
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