One of the most powerful things about SCALE Sessions is how quickly the conversation moves past surface-level stuff and exciting growth plans, into the real, gritty challenges founders are living with every day. Our Session on 20 January with Barry McNeill from Work Extraordinary was a perfect example.
From accountability bottlenecks to burnout, and hybrid working tensions to the hidden pressure to “scale at all costs”, the discussion among the founders and leaders in the room was (at times, uncomfortably) honest. We looked at what breakthrough growth actually requires in practice. Not just in systems and strategy, but in people, culture and mindset.
The people challenges that slow growth
We began by mapping the pain points founders are experiencing inside their teams and accountability came up repeatedly. Decisions that should sit with the team often find their way back to the founder, creating a cycle where people wait to be rescued rather than empowered. As one founder put it, “I’m still the one they come back to for the answers.”
Feedback was another challenge. Teams are willing to say when something is not working, but are less confident in offering solutions. Layer onto that generational differences in expectations, communication styles and ambition, and it is easy to see how assumptions and misunderstandings creep in.
As Barry explained, “When boundaries are unclear, it creates stress. Teams need clarity on how we treat each other, how we treat customers and where the red lines are.”
Burnout and wellbeing were another common theme. Peak periods, stretched resources and the emotional toll of constant high-stress decision-making have become even more pronounced since Covid. Mental health challenges can surface more quickly, and founders themselves are often operating with little recovery time.
These are not isolated issues. They are often the symptoms of a business that is rapidly outgrowing old ways of working.
Barry McNeill, Work Extraordinary, SCALE sessions
When heroics stop working
One of Barry’s slides in particular landed with the group: ‘early growth rewards heroics, scale punishes them’.
Many founders recognise that the behaviours that got them here, jumping in, fixing things fast and being indispensable, eventually become the very thing that holds the business back.
Complexity can mask bottlenecks, making it feel like everyone is busy and productive, when in reality ownership is too concentrated at the top.
“Why we, the founders, are the bottleneck is that it feels like we’re being very productive,” Barry observed. “The big shift on the scaleup journey is moving away from doing to enabling others to do the doing.”
This sparked a powerful reflection exercise. What changes do I need to make as a founder or leader to truly distribute ownership?
Culture, clarity and commercial thinking
As the session moved into what sustainable scale actually requires, psychological safety emerged as a vital pillar for. Without it, two-way communication simply does not happen. Company-wide communication often defaults to broadcast mode, but if people are not engaging, it is usually because they do not see what is in it for them.
Founders in the room engaged in a healthy debate about what good internal communication looks like and how it works, and agreed that the one-size-fits-all approach rarely works. Some people absorb information best by reading, others by listening or watching, so founders will always need to meet their people where they are to some extent.
Financial literacy was another hot topic.
“When teams understand the numbers, and how their actions affect them, it reduces founder isolation and builds collective ownership, “ said Barry. Transparency around profit and commercial realities is not a risk. It is an enabler.
Rethinking what success looks like
One of the most revealing parts of the discussion was around the unspoken pressure scaleups feel to keep growing.
“There is pressure for founders to reach huge scale to justify their existence,” Barry said. But that narrative does not work for everyone.
As former SCALE Sessions speaker Mike Anderson put it: “We don’t all need to build a unicorn with 15X returns. You can build a business you love. One that fits your life, your values and your ambition.”
Covid has reminded many of us that life is too short to optimise only for growth at all costs. Paradoxically, businesses often perform better when leaders operate from a more relaxed, grounded mindset.
The takeaway
Breakthrough growth is not about pushing harder. It is about alignment, execution and working together. It’s also about having the courage to let go of the heroics that once defined success.
Barry McNeill will be hosting a Roundtable at SCALE SUMMIT. Book your pass now.
SCALE SESSIONS
Our year-round events are focused forums designed for ambitious entrepreneurs looking to unlock the next stage of growth. Across intimate roundtables, hands-on workshops, and curated dinners, we dive into the real challenges and opportunities facing scale-up leaders today.
Each session is carefully designed to ensure the right mix of voices in the room, so that conversations are valuable, thought-provoking, and practical.
To maintain this quality, attendance is by invitation only. If you’d like to be considered for one of these prestigious gatherings, please use the form below to join the waitlist and our team will be in touch.
SIGN UP FOR FUTURE SCALE SESSIONS
-
- Information
- Women Who Scale
- Information
- Supercharging the visibility, investment, and impact of women-built businesses
- Information
- No
-
- Information
- Summit
- Information
- Big voices, bold ideas — where visionaries meet and lead
- Information
- No
-
- Information
- EXPO
- Information
- The space where the scale-up community connects, builds, and grows
- Information
- No
-
- Information
- Ventures
- Information
- Smart capital backing the next wave of game-changing founders
- Information
- No
-
- Information
- Sessions
- Information
- Focused forums for sharper insights and deeper business connections
- Information
- No
-
- Information
- Hub
- Information
- The base for tomorrow’s high-impact entrepreneurial ventures
- Information
- No
