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Shackleford
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Shackleford
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As an executive coach, I've seen it time and again: the leadership approach that works for a scrappy team of 5 often falls short for a team of 50. When you're leading a small, tight-knit group, it's easy to be involved in every decision and project. You can manage everyone directly, provide constant feedback, and pivot quickly based on new information.
But as your team expands, this hands-on style becomes unsustainable. You can't be the expert on everything or make every call. Trying to do so leads to bottlenecks, burnout, and disengagement. Your role as a leader must scale along with your organisation. Consider the contrasting stories of two executives I've coached: Executive A was the founder of a successful hospitality -tech software scale-up. In the early days, they were constantly pairing with developers, whiteboarding with the design team, and getting customer feedback themselves. Their team was small but mighty - a group that felt more like a family. They moved fast, broke things, and celebrated wins together. The founder was in their element as a leader who led from the front lines. Five years later, business was booming but the founder was drowning. The team had grow but the founder was still trying to manage everything directly. Days filled with back-to-back meetings left little time for strategic thinking. Emails and messages piled up faster than they could reply. Managers felt micromanaged and talented employees were starting to disengage. The founder's leadership style hadn't evolved with the needs of the now larger and more complex organisation. Executive B took a different approach as their market place company scaled. Having experienced the pains of hypergrowth before, they were determined not to become a bottleneck. From the beginning, they focused on hiring exceptional leaders and empowering them to build out their teams and strategies. They communicated their vision and priorities clearly, then gave their leaders space to execute. As the company grew, Executive B invested more time in strengthening relationships with their direct reports. They held regular 1:1s to discuss goals, challenges, and development. In leadership team meetings, they invited debate and made sure to draw out diverse perspectives before making key decisions. Executive B also blocked off time for learning and reflection, knowing they couldn't depend solely on past experience to navigate new challenges. The Expert vs the Learner These stories illustrate a key tension that leaders face as their teams grow: the tension between being the expert and being the learner. In a small team, leaders are often the most experienced and knowledgeable. Their teams look to them for technical expertise and quick judgment calls. But as teams scale, it becomes impossible for leaders to be the expert on everything. The skills that get you to 10 people aren't the same ones that get you to 100. Leaders must shift to being learners, seeking out diverse perspectives and empowering others to make decisions. This is especially true when it comes to navigating change, like a digital transformation. Leaders who stay curious and open-minded can adapt more quickly. The Constant vs the Adaptor Another tension is between constancy and adaptability. Leaders are expected to have strong conviction in their decisions. Changing your mind too often can erode trust. At the same time, in a fast-moving environment, sticking rigidly to a plan in the face of new information is a recipe for failure. Great leaders balance having a clear vision with being willing to adjust their approach based on data and feedback. They view mistakes as learning opportunities rather than weaknesses. When Executive B realised a new product wasn't gaining traction, they quickly pivoted the team to a new direction. Their transparency about the misstep and commitment to moving forward kept the team engaged. The Teller vs the Listener In a small team, leaders often default to telling rather than listening. With fewer moving parts, it's easier to keep track of everything and make centralised decisions. As teams grow, effective leaders spend more time listening than talking. They ask probing questions and seek to understand before being understood. This doesn't mean abdicating responsibility or neglecting to share your perspective. But it does mean balancing advocacy with inquiry, making space for others to challenge your assumptions. The Power Holder vs the Power Sharer Perhaps the biggest shift leaders must make as their teams expand is from holding power to sharing power. This can feel counterintuitive, especially for executives used to being the decision-maker. But trying to maintain control over everything quickly becomes a limitation to growth. Effective leaders empower others to lead, even if it means decisions are made differently than they would have done. They set clear goals and boundaries, then step back and let their teams execute. Becoming the Leader Your Growing Team Needs So how can you evolve your leadership style to meet the needs of your scaling organisation? Based on my work with hundreds of executives, here are some key recommendations:
Leading at scale is hard. It requires letting go of old habits and developing new muscles. It can be uncomfortable and even scary at times. But it's so worth it. When you evolve your leadership style to empower your team, you enable them to achieve more than you ever could alone. You create an organisation that is adaptable, resilient and primed for growth. Key Learnings:
Navigating leadership challenges as your team expands doesn't have to be a solo journey. Our executive coaching programmes provide personalised support to help you become the leader your organisation needs at every stage. Ready to take your leadership to the next level? Let's talk. This article was adapted from ideas in "As Your Team Gets Bigger, Your Leadership Style Has to Adapt" by Julie Zhuo, originally published in Harvard Business Review, and "Seven Leadership Tensions to Manage as Teams Grow" published in MIT Sloan Management Review. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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