General Manager (GM)

For an owner-manager this is often the most personal decision there is: who takes over the wheel? An investor looks for the leader who executes the plan after the acquisition. And in a corporate it is about the Country or Business Unit GM who grows a division independently.

The tipping point

Almost every GM assignment starts at a tipping point. The founder can no longer carry the growth alone. An investor wants a leader with final responsibility at the helm after the acquisition. Or a business unit has outgrown its structure.

Pieter van den Akker, CEO of BearField, put it like this: "My CEO role includes the responsibilities of GM, Finance Director and Sales Director. That is typical for a mid-sized scale-up." Whoever wears all those hats at once no longer gets to the most important work.

Do not wait until growth stalls. A good GM search takes time, and is almost always confidential.

How we find a General Manager

Development Driven Search® fits a GM assignment particularly well. The candidates you are looking for are often commercial leaders who are ready for their first general management responsibility. Or they have already taken that step and are looking for a company where they can really build something. We look for the leader for whom your company is that next step.

1. Role analysis. Strategy, financial position, the management team and the real mandate of the new GM. Is this a growth assignment, or is consolidation the priority? That determines the profile.
2. Confidential search. We approach candidates discreetly, even if your current organisation does not yet know about the change.
3. Assessment. Commercial sharpness, financial insight, operational overview and the ability to build a management team. You receive a substantiated recommendation for each candidate.
4. Handover and start. We guide the offer and the handover. Especially when an owner-manager hands over the wheel, that phase deserves attention.

On average this takes 8 to 12 weeks. If the current GM leaves unexpectedly, we bridge the gap through Interim & Fractional.

Discuss your GM vacancy confidentially with SalesQuarters. Call +31 20 226 90 00 or email info@salesquarters.nl.

Why a commercial background works

A General Manager with a sales or marketing background usually does better in a growth assignment. They see where the revenue has to come from and dare to steer on it. In a stable situation focused on harvesting, the same background is less of an advantage. Cost control and operational discipline then weigh more heavily. The principle is simple: a leader performs best when their experience matches what the strategy demands.

Most GM assignments that come to us are growth assignments. They call for a GM with commercial instinct. SalesQuarters has focused on exactly those leaders for more than 15 years.

General Managers also rely on us for their own teams. Kars ten Have, General Manager of Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Netherlands: "Choosing someone with sector experience gave us a lot of credibility, both internally and externally."