About the Strive Better Substack

Strive Better is written by Derek Pilling, executive coach and advisor to private equity–backed leaders and the companies they are building.

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About Strive Better

High-performance environments place extraordinary demands on the people who lead within them. Private equity may be among the most intense of these settings professionally. Capital is deployed, strategies are refined, and operating playbooks are executed with precision. Metrics are tracked maniacally. And outcomes are distilled to numbers; exit values, IRRs, and multiples of invested capital returned.

Yet again and again, the real constraint in producing desired outcomes proves to be something less visible or measurable: our ability to achieve our full human capacity as individual contributors and leaders.

The ability to think clearly under pressure. To exercise judgment amid uncertainty. To sustain performance over long stretches of time. And to pursue ambitious goals without losing the deeper foundations of a life well lived.

Strive Better explores these questions.

This publication examines the inner architecture of striving and leadership in demanding professional environments, particularly within private equity firms and the companies they support.

The focus here is not on tactics or productivity hacks, or the “how to” of generating outsized returns, but rather on the human capacities that enable leaders and organizations to perform at a high level while remaining grounded in meaning and aligning action with values.

If you are a private equity investor, operating partner, talent leader, portfolio company executive, or are just interested in the human side of performance in high-stakes environments, I hope this resonates with you.

About Me

I’m is an executive coach and advisor working with leaders in private equity environments and the companies they build. He is a former Managing Director at a growth-stage private equity firm, a founder, and a multiple-time CEO of private equity-backed companies.

Today, my work focuses on supporting others in developing the human capacities that enable sustained performance, sound judgment, and leadership effectiveness under pressure while cultivating flourishing lives.

In addition to coaching and advising companies through Boards of Directors, I am conducting research into the psychology and architecture of striving among high-achieving individuals. Insights from that work inform my writing, speaking, and board advisory practice.

More about my work can be found at: derekpilling.com