CEO Sparring System: Be unshakable when the stakes are high
Bring one crucial piece of CEO work into each 30-minute Sparring Match. Get it challenged. Leave with the version that holds up.
The spark for the CEO Sparring System came from a conversation with MBV owner-CEO Ronny Zingre, who said this to Boom CEO Dave Hertig:
“❌ I don’t want a consultant. I don’t want a coach. I don’t want a mentor. I already know where I’m going. ✅ But I want a sparring partner who challenges my ideas before I use them.”
When it matters, your work needs to hold up
As a CEO, you can’t afford to:
- watch trust drop in one meeting
- create confusion with a message that doesn’t land
- get surprised by the questions that matter most
- find the weak points in public
Three people in the room. One goal: make your work hold up.
You bring the work and step into the ring.
The Sparring Partner challenges it. Fast, direct, effective.
The Fight Caller resets with you in the breaks and helps prioritize the fixes at the end.
A Sparring Match is not an open conversation. It requires the CEO to bring a real piece of CEO work that they will use in the real world.
How a Sparring Match works
- The Match (30 minutes): You bring the important thing you’re working on. You start. The Sparring Partner jumps in immediately.
- The Rounds (3 minutes): The Sparring Partner pressure-tests your logic, your story, the gaps, and the tough questions—without holding back.
- The Breaks (1 minute): The Fight Caller resets with you in the breaks, so you sharpen your next round.
Expect interruption. Expect sharp questions. Expect to change your thinking in real time.
We find the weak points in the Sparring ring. You leave with the version of your work that holds up in the arena.
Bring the work that matters most.
- Board and investor presentations
- Strategy and direction
- Public speeches and town halls
- Negotiations
- Hard conversations with key people
- Sensitive internal updates, memos, or policies
- Messages you can’t afford to get wrong
- M&A narratives and “why this deal” logic
✅ CEO Sparring
What it is, and what it isn’t
- Live challenge
- High intensity
- Stress-testing your work
- You leave with fixes
❌ Coaching
❌ Consulting
❌ Done-for-you agency work
Your job is to lead. Ours is to make sure your work holds up in the arena.
After each Sparring Match, you’ll know:
- What holds up
- What breaks
- What to change first
Sparring Core Team
Offer
- Sparring Matches for high-stakes pieces of CEO work
- Fight Caller + Sparring Partner in the room Fast intake before the match
- A short written summary: what to change next, in order of impact
- Available as a single Sparring Match, a focused Sparring project, or an ongoing monthly rhythm
Pricing
A single Sparring Match starts at CHF 2’250 when used as part of an ongoing monthly Sparring rhythm.
For highly specialized, very high-stakes pieces of CEO work, a Sparring project can go up to CHF 15’000 and may include two or more Sparring Matches for iteration.
The right format depends on the stakes, complexity, preparation needed, and how much written clarification is required after the match. We identify what needs to change, in order of impact. You make the changes.
Bring the work that can’t fail. Get it stress-tested. Leave with the version that holds up.
This is for you if:
- you want your work to be tested, not praised
- you prefer truth over comfort
- you seek to get challenged every time the stakes are high
“The highest-performing CEOs are those who are the best at becoming better.”
McKinsey’s Authors of “A CEO For All Seasons”
The CEO Sparring System is designed and quality-held by Boom CEO Dave Hertig and Boom’s Head of the CEO Sparring System, Thomas Stocker.