Sparring Core
CEOs · 50–250 staff
Investment · on request
11 sessions · async prep · FeedForward · emergency slot · 1 Klartext-Edition co-authoring p.a. · access to the full JUSTGROW method
JUSTGROW · CEO Sparring
Sparring that mobilizes — not moderates.
CEO Sparring for entrepreneurs whose growth needs to grow up — not just scale. 1:1 with a Growth Advisor, confidential, for CEOs, founders and managing directors in the Mittelstand. It works on three levels at once: with you, in the team, in the organisation.
— Entrepreneurs & teams we’ve worked with —
Many CEOs hire a coach — when they need a sparring partner.
When the strategy is set, but the team won’t pull. When decisions get lonely, because no one in the company can make them with you. When AI pressure grows without a clear method — then you need a counterpart that speaks Klartext and mobilizes energy.
Coaches hold space. Sparring partners hold position.
Three signals every managing director knows.
//
Strategy is set. Execution seeps away.
Growth isn’t stuck on the market, but in the engine room. You know what to do. The team doesn’t get into doing.
//
A CEO/Founder Shift is due.
You’re meant to let go without losing. The next phase demands a different role. No one in the company talks openly with you about it.
//
AI pressure grows. Leadership is missing.
Roadmap conflicts, tool sprawl, governance questions. AI is a leadership task, not an IT project. You need a decision, not another tool.
12 months. 11 sessions. Four modules.
- Monthly 90-min session, one month summer break
- 30 min async prep before each session: you set 1 main topic, your sparring partner sets 1 Klartext topic
- FeedForward note within 24 h: 1 decision, 1 next step, 1 observation
- Hybrid: 8× remote · 3× in-person (Q1 · mid-year · Q4)
- 1× free 30-min rapid-response slot per quarter
1
Diagnosis
Your sparring partner listens and reflects a pattern you can no longer see yourself.
2
Decision sparring
Three options get taken apart — one becomes a decision with an owner and a date.
3
Mobilization sparring
The decision is made, the team won’t pull. You get the mobilization script.
4
Klartext confrontation
What no one else is allowed to say gets said. You respond. We move on.
This is what the full engagement looks like. You start with the discovery call — then the sparring trial, then you decide.
Three variants.
No hourly rate. No day rate. One engagement with a binding output — we clarify the right variant and the investment in the discovery call.
Sparring Plus
CEOs 250–500 staff · CEO+COO tandem
Investment · on request
like Core · plus tandem mode for CEO+COO · plus 2 additional in-person slots
Sparring Founder Shift
Founders in the CEO/Founder Shift
Investment · on request
like Core · plus year-end retreat (1 day) · plus 2 Klartext-Editions co-authoring p.a.
Sparring is the companion format to all JUSTGROW formats — see all workshops →
What you actually take away.
01
Klartext.
A counterpart that holds position when substance is called for. No open questions you’re left to answer yourself.
02
Method.
Access to the full JUSTGROW method — One-Page Growth Plan · KI-Kompass · Decision Charter · FeedForward. Used live in the sparring, not in a slide deck.
03
Mobilization.
Every session produces a decision, a next step and a mobilization script for the team. Strategy becomes behaviour, not PowerPoint.
Three steps. None longer than 90 minutes.
01
Discovery call
Remote, confidential · 30 min · free. Pattern match: does CEO Sparring fit the situation?
02
Sparring trial
Remote, with a real topic of yours · 60 min · free. Voice check: is the chemistry right?
03
Engagement start
Agreement · onboarding · kick-off · first session.
The sparring trial is not a coaching taster. Your sparring partner brings a Klartext topic of their own. If you want to continue after 60 minutes, that’s the match signal. If not, it was the best conversation of the month — no sales pressure.
Who does the sparring.
Two Growth Advisors at decision-maker level — Olaf Sell and Georg von Laffert. You’re matched with one as your fixed sparring partner.
Olaf Sell
Growth Advisor · Managing Director
20+ years of scaling, M&A support and operating-model design. Guides CEO engagements from the 80-staff family business to the international Mittelstand group.
Georg von Laffert
Growth Advisor · Partner
An operator with scaling DNA from industry and tech. Guides leadership teams between strategic clarity and hard execution.
No coaching. No classic consulting. Sparring at decision-maker level — along the JUSTGROW method: One-Page Growth Plan · KI-Kompass · FeedForward · Klartext-Editions. We deliberately keep the number of active CEO Sparring engagements small.
Frequent questions.
Who is CEO Sparring for — and who is it not for?
For CEOs, founders and managing directors whose growth needs to grow up, and who want to think through lonely decisions with someone at decision-maker level — often in the Mittelstand, in family businesses, or in the middle of a CEO/Founder Shift. Not a fit if you’re looking for someone to execute tasks, want a quick tool answer, or aren’t ready to take a position yourself.
How is this different from coaching or consulting?
A coach holds space and asks questions. A consultant delivers recommendations and PDFs. Your sparring partner takes a position, brings a Klartext topic of their own and mobilizes — a Growth Advisor, not a coach, not a classic consultant.
What does it cost?
No hourly rate, no day rate. An engagement with a binding output — we clarify the right variant and the investment transparently in the discovery call.
How much of my time does it take?
Manageable: one 90-minute session a month plus around 30 minutes of async prep in a shared document. No scheduling ping-pong, no phone loops. You set one main topic, your sparring partner one Klartext topic.
How confidential is this?
Strictly confidential. What’s discussed in the sparring stays there. You get a fixed sparring partner — not a rotating team — and a protected space for exactly the decisions you can’t share with anyone else.
Online or on-site?
Hybrid. 8 of 11 sessions remote (international works too), 3 in-person as the Q1 kick-off, mid-year and Q4 offsite. The concrete cadence is adjusted during onboarding.
How fast do we start?
Discovery call within 14 days, sparring trial within 30 days, engagement start within 4–6 weeks of first contact. We deliberately keep the number of active CEO Sparring engagements small.
What if the sparring isn’t a fit?
After the sparring trial, you decide. If no, it was the best conversation of the month — no sales pressure. If yes, we move into the engagement start. During an active engagement: cancellation with a 3-month notice to quarter-end.
You know where it’s stuck.
You just don’t have anyone to talk Klartext about it with. That’s exactly what CEO Sparring is for.
Book a discovery call →