Including Behavioral Leadership Insight Analysis to Due Diligence

professional profile

November 11, 2025

by a professional from University of California, Hastings College of Law in Petaluma, California, United States

Curious to hear from other searchers and investors. Are any of you starting to include behavioral or leadership insight analysis as part of your diligence process? We spend so much time validating financials, markets, and customers, but I’m wondering how often teams are evaluating how leaders make decisions, communicate, and work together under pressure before closing a deal. It seems like a natural next step in reducing execution risk, especially as more investors talk about “people-first” value creation (which we are moving towards). Would love to hear if anyone has tried adding this layer (formally or informally) and what you’ve learned from it.
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Reply by a searcher
in Cambridge, UK
I love this line of thinking! The answer is yes, in as much as if the leadership were obviously behaving weird (despite good business performance) it would be an immediate red flag. However, I don't know how well this could be assessed formally. Plus, I think there is a ton of opportunity for value creation through improving decision-making, communication and so on. I prefer to think about aligning values. Often the business's customer base and public persona will tell you a lot about their values (which often mirror the owner's values). If that doesn't tie in with my own values and beliefs then the relationship wouldn't endure.
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