The CEO stared at the latest performance report, frustration growing.
“We should be further ahead by now.”
Despite years of steady success, growth had slowed. The company had reached a plateau, and certain leaders—once the driving force behind the company’s achievements—were now struggling to keep up with the demands of the next stage.
It was a harsh realization: What got them here wouldn’t get them to the next level.
For many mid-market CEOs, this moment comes sooner or later. Scaling a company requires more than just working harder—it demands new capabilities, fresh perspectives, and strategic talent decisions.
The question is: Do you have the right leadership team to get there?
When Your First Team Becomes a Bottleneck
Some of your most loyal and dedicated leaders—the ones who helped build the company—may now be feeling:
🔹 Overwhelmed by the pace of growth
🔹 Burned out trying to stretch beyond their capabilities
🔹 Resistant to the changes necessary for scaling
It’s tempting to coach them up or replace them outright, but these are only short-term fixes. Sustainable success requires a strategic approach to talent management.
Here’s how to evaluate, develop, and refine your leadership team for long-term, predictable growth.
7 Steps to Building a First Team for Scalable Growth
1. Use Behavioral Assessments
🔹 Tools like Predictive Index, Birkman, or Hogan can reveal key insights into a leader’s strengths, blind spots, and behaviors.
🔹 The goal? Ensure the right people are in the right roles for where your company is going.
2. Evaluate Struggling Leaders Objectively
🔹 Instead of making knee-jerk decisions, assess:
✅ Their core strengths
✅ Their growth potential
✅ Whether they still fit the evolving needs of the role
🔹 Can they adapt? Or has the role outgrown them?
3. Assess Team Dynamics
🔹 Does your leadership team have the behaviors and skills required for the next stage of growth?
🔹 Are there internal conflicts that hinder execution?
🔹 Alignment and chemistry are just as critical as individual competence.
4. Hire with Strategy, Not Urgency
🔹 Avoid hiring based on experience alone—hire for fit, adaptability, and future growth.
🔹 Every new hire should either:
✅ Complement existing strengths OR
✅ Bring new capabilities that the company lacks
5. Upgrade Your Onboarding Process
🔹 HR-led onboarding isn’t enough—leaders must take ownership.
🔹 The best CEOs ensure new leaders get:
✅ The Strategic Plan and Operational Priorities
✅ A 90-day roadmap outlining clear expectations
🔹 This accelerates alignment and productivity.
6. Implement Yearly Performance Reviews
🔹 Use a structured system to evaluate leaders consistently.
🔹 Identify high-potential talent early—and address performance gaps before they become roadblocks.
7. Prioritize Succession Planning
🔹 A Talent Management Tool is essential for tracking leadership potential.
🔹 This ensures:
✅ Future leaders are being developed
✅ Gaps in leadership are addressed proactively
✅ The company isn’t left scrambling when change is needed
The CEO’s Call to Action: Be Bold. Be Decisive.
Scaling a mid-market company isn’t just about strategy and execution—it’s about who is leading the charge.
As CEO, you must be willing to make hard decisions early and often.
✅ Do you have the right team to take the company to the next level?
✅ Are you proactively shaping your leadership pipeline?
✅ Are you building a company designed for long-term, scalable success?
At KP Strategies, we help CEOs make bold, strategic talent decisions that position their companies for predictable, rapid growth.
Is your leadership team truly ready for what’s next? If not—let’s fix that.