Sinking Leadership

Problem:

There was a home improvement company run by two co-founders — one led Recruiting, Marketing, and Sales; the other ran Operations.

They built leaders to help them scale, and at first it worked. The leaders took on responsibility, helped their teams grow, and freed the founders to focus on bigger strategy.

But over time, the founders pushed those leaders even higher up — giving them overrides and autonomy that far outweighed their accountability. The leaders got comfortable. They stopped leading from the front. Standards slipped.

And because the founders had stepped back, those leaders became the “voice” of the company to their reps. Toxicity started to spread. The reps were loyal to their leaders — not to the company. Before long, the founders realized they were in a chokehold: they couldn’t hold their leaders accountable without risking mass revolt.

Power Move:

It wasn’t time for another pep talk. It was time for confrontation.
They set clear standards, enforced performance metrics, and had the hard conversations they’d been avoiding.

Some leaders left. Some were reassigned. One turned around completely.
But the company got its power back — and with it, its culture.

Leadership isn’t about keeping everyone happy (who’s happy when the company goes out of business, anyway?). It’s about keeping the vision, plan, and standards alive.

As promised, actionable advice to grow your business in under 60 seconds.

— Alex Edwards
Founder, Nth Power
Helping business owners turn performance into power.

P.S. Having issues with holding your leadership team accountable? Book a free consultation to get advice from someone that’s coached 300+ businesses :)