David Reynolds had always led with a clear vision and decisive action, steering his company from a scrappy startup to a dominant industry force. Over the years, he’d instilled a shared leadership model, empowering his team to take ownership and make decisions independently.
This collaborative approach had fueled innovation and growth, allowing the company to thrive.
But now, with the business in Mature Growth, everything seemed to be on autopilot. Operations were efficient, profits steady, and his leadership team experienced. Yet beneath this success, David felt a growing unease.
Reviewing the latest numbers, David recognized the signs. Growth was slowing. The excitement that had once fueled the company was fading. He knew that Mature Growth could easily slip into the Pinnacle phase if he wasn’t careful.
The thought of his company becoming comfortable, coasting on past successes, was unsettling.
David prided himself on being a leader who didn’t just react to challenges but anticipated them. However, he was now faced with a dilemma: maintain the status quo and risk complacency, or push the company into uncharted territory and risk everything he had built.
The Leadership Paradox
David’s mind raced with questions. Could he afford to disrupt what was working? What if his bold moves backfired? The fear of making the wrong decision weighed heavily on him.
Yet he also knew that doing nothing was the greater risk. He’d seen too many companies falter by playing it safe, and that wasn’t the kind of leader he wanted to be.
Here’s what David was discovering: There is no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership.
The shared leadership style that served them brilliantly during growth was now insufficient for what came next. Moreover, he realized that while his collaborative approach had empowered his team, it might be time to adopt a more directive approach to shake the company out of its comfort zone.
This wasn’t about abandoning who he was as a leader. It was about evolving his approach to match what the business actually needed.
Why Leadership Must Evolve Across the S-Curve
Each phase of the S-Curve has unique tasks to complete. In a way, the S-Curve creates a job description for leaders, and that job description requires different attributes and leadership styles at different points.
Your goal is to match the business’s needs with the leadership approach best suited to accomplish the tasks at hand.
If you try to traverse the entire lifecycle relying only on your default characteristics, you’ll fail. More likely, the organization will stall in the phase that best reflects your preferred way of doing things.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: No single leader possesses all the attributes needed to lead through the entire lifecycle.
What Early Growth Needs
In Early Growth, the business needs action-oriented, decisive, hands-on leadership. You need someone comfortable with chaos who can make quick decisions and solve problems on the fly. The leader must be willing to muscle through challenges with high energy and improvisation.
David had this phase down. His clear vision and decisive action built the company from nothing to dominance.
What Mature Growth Requires
However, Mature Growth requires something different. The business needs process-driven, systematic leadership that builds infrastructure and delegates effectively. Furthermore, the leader must balance exploiting current strengths with exploring future opportunities.
David’s shared leadership model worked well initially. But now, in this phase, the balance between empowering his team and providing clear, decisive direction was critical.
He needed to take a firmer hand, especially when making tough decisions that would propel the company into its next chapter.
The Leadership Shift Required
David realized he needed to blend his transformational style (which inspired his team to take initiative) with a more transactional approach, where clear expectations and accountability were emphasized.
Additionally, he understood that humility was just as important as confidence, especially in this phase. He needed to be open to new ideas, listen more, and foster a culture where questioning the status quo was encouraged.
This wasn’t about abandoning what worked. It was about extending and exploiting current success while preparing for the leap to the next S-Curve.
The Crossroads Every Leader Faces
David’s situation isn’t unique. Most leaders hit this wall when their natural leadership style no longer matches what the business requires.
The challenge isn’t recognizing you’re at a crossroads. The challenge is knowing what type of leadership your current business phase actually needs.
Leadership Requirements by Phase
Learning Phase: Visionary, comfortable with ambiguity, embraces experimentation, curious and strategic
Early Growth: Action-oriented, decisive, hands-on, high energy, willing to improvise and take risks
Mature Growth: Process-driven, systematic, builds infrastructure, delegates effectively, balances present operations with future planning
Pinnacle Phase: Strategic, innovation-focused, prepares organization for next jump, maintains excellence while exploring new paths
Decline Phase: Courageous, directive, willing to make hard calls quickly, turnaround-focused, assertive about necessary changes
The Swiss Cheese Model of Leadership
I use the metaphor of Swiss cheese to highlight who you are as a leader. Elements of your personality impact how you lead. These elements might be known, unknown, managed, or unmanaged. Regardless, they’re there, and they have an impact.
Think of your leadership capabilities as a block of Swiss cheese. You have solid areas (your strengths) and holes (your gaps). The question isn’t whether you have holes—everyone does. The question is whether your holes are hurting your ability to facilitate movement in your current phase.
Critical Questions for Self-Assessment
Fear: Do you push outside your comfort zone? Is your tolerance for risk high enough? Are you courageous enough for the journey?
Insecurity: Can you embrace not knowing? Are you willing to make mistakes? Do you need to be the smartest person in the room?
Inner Strength: Can you accept and embrace criticism? Are you more than people’s opinion of you?
Social Skills: Do you practice active listening? Can you establish and build trust? Are you humble?
Influencing Skills: Can you motivate and influence a diverse population? Do you build ownership and consensus easily?
Team Skills: Do you manage conflict effectively? Can you delegate and let go? Can you say no when needed?
David’s Transformation
With a renewed sense of purpose, David committed to leading the company through this pivotal moment. He knew the road ahead would be challenging, but he was determined to guide his company not just to sustain its current success but to reach new heights.
His evolution plan included:
Taking a more hands-on, directive approach for critical decisions while maintaining his collaborative model for day-to-day operations
Setting a clear vision for the future and driving the company toward it with renewed focus
Combining confidence with humility—being open to new ideas and listening more
Fostering a culture where questioning the status quo was encouraged, not discouraged
Balancing immediate results with long-term planning for the next S-Curve
David was ready to take his company into the future. He would ensure it didn’t just survive but thrived in the next chapter of its growth, driven by a leadership style that was as dynamic and adaptable as the company itself needed to be.
The Leadership Agility Requirement
What separated David from leaders who let their companies drift into plateau was his willingness to evolve. He recognized that leadership agility is a core strength, not a weakness.
The best leaders aren’t perfect. They’re agile.
They understand their default style. They recognize when that style matches or mismatches business needs. Furthermore, they’re willing to adapt, stretch, and sometimes operate outside their comfort zone to give the business what it requires.
Your Leadership Crossroads
Where are you right now?
Is your natural leadership style aligned with what your current business phase needs? Are you trying to use a Learning Phase approach in Mature Growth? Are you applying Mature Growth leadership to a Decline situation?
Moreover, do you even know what phase your business is in?
Here’s what makes this particularly challenging: Your default leadership style feels natural, comfortable, and right. It’s how you’ve always led. It’s probably what made you successful up to this point.
But what got you here won’t get you there.
The question isn’t whether you’re a good leader. The question is whether you’re the right type of leader for your business’s current needs—and whether you’re agile enough to evolve when those needs change.
David’s story shows what happens when leaders evolve their approach deliberately rather than clinging to what worked before. Next week, I’ll reveal the critical transition points where most leaders fail, the inflection points that separate companies that scale from those that stall.
Want to understand the complete leadership evolution framework and how to assess your own style? Download our Locator Report here or dive deep into the complete framework in my book, Talent-Driven Growth.
