Growth is what most founders and CEOs I have met work hard to achieve. And when it happens – when business is good, customers are coming, and the team is expanding – it is easy for focus to stay there. On the business. On the next client. On the next hire.
What I have seen in those companies is that the organization often falls behind. Quietly and gradually, until suddenly it is no longer quiet.
Growth reveals what was missing from the start
In a small company, a great deal runs on informal structures. Everyone knows who decides what. Communication happens naturally because you are all in the same room. Culture is carried by the founders because the founders are present in everything.
When the company grows, those structures no longer hold – or rather, they hold for a while, but at an increasingly high cost. What I have seen repeatedly is that what worked perfectly with ten people starts creating friction with twenty, and real problems with forty.
That is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It is a sign that the company has outgrown its structure. It is actually a good sign – but it requires someone to see it and act on it.
Roles become unclear without anyone noticing
One of the most common things I encounter in growth companies is that roles have evolved organically without responsibility and mandate keeping pace. Someone was hired as a salesperson but has gradually taken on half of the customer service. Someone else has formal responsibility for an area but makes no decisions there because the founder is always involved anyway.
That creates frustration. It creates inefficiency. And it creates a culture where people stop taking initiative because they never quite know whether something is their responsibility.
In my experience, this is one of the most underestimated obstacles for a company that genuinely wants to scale.
The leadership team that never really formed
Many of the companies I have worked with at this stage have a leadership team on paper. In practice, it is often an informal forum where the founder informs and the others listen. That is understandable – it is how it starts. But it is not a leadership team capable of carrying a company into its next phase.
A functioning leadership team requires clear roles, the mandate to make decisions, and a culture that accepts challenge. That does not build itself. And it is difficult to build in the middle of a growth spurt when everyone is already running flat out.
What I think should be done – and when
The best time to review your structure is before it starts to hurt. The second-best time is now.
It does not need to be a large project. Often it is enough to pause and ask a few fundamental questions: Does everyone know what they own? Does everyone know who makes which decisions? Do we have a leadership team that actually leads – or are we simply holding a meeting we have named after one?
Those questions are simple to ask. The answers are sometimes uncomfortable. But in my experience, that is precisely where the work needs to begin.
If you have thoughts, questions, or simply want to talk something through – feel free to get in touch. I am happy to have an initial conversation with no agenda.
Magdalena Hagström Ståhl
By M Consulting
Right person. Right place. Everything changes.