Powerflow – From Inherited Uncertainty to Confident Direction

“It was a big fruit tree in a small pot.”

That’s how Daniel Rolfe describes the state of Powerflow when he first stepped into the CEO role. A thriving family business servicing major mining clients like Anglo Platinum and Sibanye Stillwater, Powerflow had all the makings of a strong company, but it was stuck. Stuck in old ways of working, stuck in complicated family dynamics, and stuck with a leader who wasn’t sure he even wanted the job.

Daniel hadn’t grown up in the business his parents started back in 1987. When he and his brother were “parachuted in” to run it, he found himself at sea, equipped with life experience, but not the business acumen or clarity he felt the role required.

“I had lots of ideas,” Daniel says, “but no formal training. I’d inherited something great, but I didn’t really know how to run it.” At one point, he seriously considered walking away altogether.

But Daniel didn’t cash out. Instead, he picked up the phone, and that’s when things began to change.

Daniel’s first year of coaching was a personal investment, in every sense of the word. He paid Grow’s fees from his own pocket and insisted on off-site sessions at a local café, out of view from the team. He was unsure and cautious. But he was also committed.

“He wanted purpose,” his coach recalls. “He didn’t want to float. He wanted to understand, to take control, but in his own way.”

Those first sessions focused on giving Daniel a safe space to think, explore, and ask questions he wasn’t comfortable asking elsewhere. Slowly, things started to shift.

He began to understand the business’s balance sheet more deeply, something that had long felt like an overgrown back garden. With his coach’s help, Daniel was finally able to make sense of what had always seemed impenetrable: the group’s complex balance sheet, intercompany loans, and asset ownership structures. “The first and probably one of the biggest points that my coach was able to assist me with was deciphering the balance sheet for the group of companies because that really was like an overgrown back garden when I first started trying to understand why one company was owing another company money.”

His coach even spent time over the December holidays pulling apart the numbers and presenting them back in a way Daniel could truly engage with. That’s when a major issue came to light, posing serious risks to succession and estate planning.

The family and Daniel had heard this warning before from their attorney of many years, but it had never fully landed, until now. “That was a turning point,” he reflects. “It was the first time I really felt I was owning what was in front of me.”

One of the complex elements of Powerflow’s story is the family behind it.

Daniel’s parents were still involved from the sidelines. Daniel and his brother, Bob, often had very different views on how to run the business and the right approach to their leadership roles. Conversations around ownership and inheritance were complicated and emotionally loaded.

As trust grew between Daniel and his coach, those dynamics came to the surface. Together, they tackled one of the thorniest issues: the company’s estate structure. With his coach’s neutrality and guidance, Daniel was able to initiate the conversations that finally got things moving. 

“That simply wouldn’t have happened without Grow,” Daniel says. “It wasn’t just about tax or legal advice. It was about someone helping us navigate the emotional terrain with clarity and patience.”

With the estate structure resolved, Daniel’s confidence grew. He came clean to the rest of the business, sharing that he had been working with a coach, and that it was making a difference. What followed surprised him.

Instead of resistance, there was relief. Amanda, the company’s general manager, expressed appreciation for how decision-making had improved. “We’re making better decisions now,” she told Daniel. “Quicker, sharper, and not caught up in personal conflict.”

For the first time, Daniel began sharing financial information openly with his senior team. And that unlocked a new level of operational effectiveness. “We used to avoid talking numbers,” he admits. “There wasn’t much trust, and frankly, I didn’t feel confident enough to explain the story behind the numbers.” But as his own understanding of the company’s balance sheet and income statement deepened, he was finally able to include senior staff into the financial picture.

Amanda leaned into this new approach. With coaching support, she began developing her own financial acumen, eventually leading the drafting of the company’s first formal budget and collaborating closely on the long-term incentive model

As Daniel stepped back, Amanda stepped up. “We all got better,” he says. “But it started with me learning how to see the full picture and then having the confidence to share it.”

One of the most impactful changes came through the development of a structured, long-term incentive policy for key staff.

Previously, Powerflow’s incentive system was informal and inconsistent, peppered with once-off bonuses and opaque pay packets. It sowed confusion and, at times, mistrust.

With their coach’s help, Daniel and Amanda designed and implemented a professional incentive structure. It rewards the right behaviours, aligns everyone around shared goals (like retaining Powerflow’s key mining contracts), and creates a clear link between performance and reward. 

“I was genuinely worried Amanda might leave,” Daniel admits. “This helped me make it clear that she’s valued, and that she has a future here.”

It also became a subtle but powerful lever in reinforcing the company’s hierarchy. As Daniel puts it: “It reminded everyone who the directors are, and why that matters.”

Perhaps the most profound shift has been in Daniel himself.

“I used to be in the office every day, rushing around, trying to be everyone’s friend. I was getting sandwiches at lunchtime just to stay relevant,” he laughs. “Now, I go in once or twice a week, and I focus on what matters.”

With clearer financials, a functioning team, and systems in place, Daniel has stepped back from the day-to-day grind. But he hasn’t stepped away. He’s directing. He’s strategizing. He’s leading.

And he’s no longer doing it alone.

“He’s not just a coach,” Daniel says of his Grow coach. “He’s a sounding board. I can throw ideas at him. He gets it. He helps me see what’s possible.”

That sounding board has helped Daniel oversee the success of Powerflow. The business has grown to about 75 employees across the group, with approximately 65 blue-collar workers and 10-12 white-collar staff. They’ve recorded record profits for the past four years, even in a difficult, declining market. And it’s given Daniel the confidence to lead with clarity, not just commitment.

When asked to summarise the change, Daniel lands on a phrase that says it all: impetus through confidence.

It’s the kind of momentum that only comes when a leader grows – not just in knowledge, but in self-belief. When conversations become clearer. When decisions become faster. When vision becomes shared.

Powerflow’s journey isn’t over. But it’s no longer stuck.

The tree is out of the pot. And it’s growing.