Most Operating Partners aren’t operators, they’re translators.

Translating between the deal team that wants “disciplined growth” (whatever that means this quarter) and the management team that wants to protect their P&L (and their jobs). Half the time, both sides are wrong.

The deal team wants 20% growth with no investment. Management wants investment with no accountability. The OP is supposed to magic the gap away.

It’s a thankless role. You’re caught in the middle.....expected to drive outcomes without authority, align incentives without leverage, and “partner with management” while quietly being the execution arm for the investment thesis.

The irony is that the best operators I’ve met don’t translate anything, they decide. They step in, take control of the funnel, fix the pricing, rebuild the team. They act like CEOs, not coaches.

But most firms don’t want that. They want “influence without disruption.” They want an operator who can write a deck about EBITDA bridges, not someone who can actually build one.

So the real issue isn’t talent, it’s structure. Most OEs are set up to advise, not to execute. To present, not to perform.

If private equity truly believed in operating leverage, they’d give OEs the same authority (and upside) as deal partners. Let them lead, not just translate.

Because value isn’t created in memos or Monday calls. It’s created in decisions made under pressure, usually when someone is finally allowed to act like an operator.