The Growing Pains of Leadership: Why Strong Teams Can’t Depend on One Person

Building a team that can grow means creating an environment where people have the confidence, support, and opportunity to lead.

In the early stages of building a team, it’s natural to be involved in almost everything. You know your people, understand the work, and can quickly step in when something needs attention. For many leaders, being hands-on is simply part of getting the business off the ground.

But as an organization grows, that same approach doesn’t always serve the team as well. You’ll notice small shifts. People wait for direction instead of moving forward. Decisions keep landing back on the same desks. Team leads become the link between teams that should simply be working with each other. Over time, progress depends less on the strength of the team and more on whether a few key people are available.

That doesn’t mean you have the wrong people. It could simply mean that there’s a possibility that the organization has outgrown the way it’s been operating.

In my experience, one of the hardest parts of leadership is recognizing when the approach that got you here won’t get you where you want to go.

Growth Requires a Different Kind of Leadership

Growth Requires Different Leadership

Smaller teams, as a byproduct, work really closely together. You watch how one another operates; you learn and pick things up through everyday tasks and activities.

But over time, teams grow and bandwidth starts to stretch the quality time leaders can offer individual team members. With less opportunity for face time and ad hoc discussions, team members develop their own ways of working. This is a good thing, but only if you set them up for success.

The best leaders not only share openly what’s next, but more importantly, the ‘why’ and the reasoning that brought them to that decision. That’s how you authentically transfer knowledge and share your style of leadership. Team members can take what resonates with them and develop their own style, equally as powerful but tailored to who they are.

Leading by example, over the years, has become more of a catch phrase or generic statement. But it is a very powerful way to lead if you take the time and invest in your team. Share the anecdotes, the reasons why, and the different options you considered. That instills confidence when team members are faced with similar situations. They learn how to break down the problem and understand what to consider.

What does that look like in practice? Be clear about priorities and show your team how their work connects to the bigger picture. Give them space to make decisions within their roles. They may not tackle things exactly as you would, but give them the space to figure it out. Coach by empowering and be available when there are breakdowns. Show no judgment. That’s what will compel them to come to you for help. The best learning happens in the breakdowns, and the best leaders coach and guide you through them. That last part is harder than it sounds.

If you do this well, the team members you coach will become powerful leaders. Your job as a leader is to inspire the best in each of them. Support and guide them in finding their own style of leadership. When you no longer have the capacity to be in every room or conversation you should be in, your team members are empowered to pick up where you leave off.

Recognize the People Who Make Others Better

“Less about being the person everyone needs.”

Recognize the People Who Make Others Better

Most organizations have a few people who consistently go above and beyond. They solve problems, support team members, take work off leaders’ plates to free up their time, remember the details, and step in whenever something needs doing. Those people deserve recognition. But as leaders, we need to be mindful not to create a culture where success depends too heavily on a few individuals.

When one person becomes the unofficial owner of a process, a relationship, or a decision, the organization may benefit in the short term. Over time, that dependency can limit everyone involved. That person has less room to take on new challenges, their team members have fewer opportunities to build their own expertise, and the organization becomes vulnerable whenever that person is away or moves on.

It’s worth paying just as much attention to the people who make the whole team better. Who’s sharing what they’ve learned? Who’s mentoring new employees? Who’s building the processes that make everyone’s work easier? Who’s committed to raising the bar for the whole team?

Those contributions may be less visible than being the person everyone turns to when something goes wrong, but they build something more valuable over time: a team that continues to grow stronger with every new person who joins it

Build a Team That Can Grow Together

Build a Team That Can Grow Together

Having talented people on your team is critical, but building a strong team takes more than that. They need the right tools, access to information, and the trust to make decisions together without waiting for a team lead to step in and guide them.

When people spend too much time tracking down information, waiting for answers, or working around silos between departments, progress slows. These things may not seem significant individually, but I assure you, their collective impact is far greater than most organizations realize. As leaders, part of our responsibility is to remove those barriers and make it easier for people to work together and do their best work.

As organizations grow, there will always be unexpected challenges, shifting priorities, and people stepping into new roles. You can’t prevent change. What you can do is build a team that’s equipped to adapt to it.

That changes the question we ask ourselves as leaders. Less “How do I make sure everything gets done?” and more “Am I building a team that can succeed without depending on me, or any one person?”

For me, that’s what leadership looks like as an organization grows. Less about being the person everyone needs. More about giving people the confidence, context, and support to achieve more together than any one of them could alone.

About Author

Kal K. Sahota is an experienced executive and Principal of Sahota Consulting & Advisory, where she works with CEOs, founders, and leadership teams to strengthen business operations, align strategy with execution, and support sustainable growth.

With more than three decades of experience spanning financial services, technology, and organizational leadership, Kal brings both executive and hands-on operational experience to her advisory work. Throughout her career, she has helped organizations navigate growth, change, and complexity while building strong teams and cultures grounded in trust, accountability, and collaboration.

Kal previously served as President and CEO of HeroX, a global technology platform, where she helped lead the organization to its first period of profitability while strengthening operational effectiveness and alignment across a fully remote team. More recently, through her consulting and advisory practice, she supported Intranet Connections as Chief Growth Officer, working with the CEO and leadership team on growth strategy, sales and marketing alignment, and commercialization of its next-generation SaaS platform.

Her career also includes senior leadership roles in financial services, giving her a broad perspective on the challenges of leading organizations across different industries and stages of growth.

Kal contributes thought leadership on executive leadership, organizational culture, team alignment, change management, and the connection between strategy and execution. She believes strong organizations are built by developing people, creating clarity, and giving teams the confidence and support to succeed together.

KAL K. SAHOTA , Principal, Sahota Consulting & Advisory