One type of organization that The Bailey Group works especially well with, are those organizations who have evolved from being a small, entrepreneurial “shop” to a bona fide “small business.”  If you are a leader within this type of organization, the following challenges may be familiar to you…

In the entrepreneurial phase, leaders do it all. They come up with fresh ideas and their passion/talent touches everyone who works there and naturally pulls them along toward the future. They identify the problems, both at the business and project-level, figure out how to solve them and implement those solutions. These leaders are challenged and confident enough to follow their professional instincts and while exhausting, these times may offer some of the most engaged moments of their careers.

Then, their success leads to growth. Their organization doubles, triples, quadruples in size…but the range of their leadership cannot possibly double, triple or quadruple in size and soon, these once larger-than- life- leaders find that they cannot do it all. This type of dilemma is summed up perfectly by Marshall Goldsmith, a nationally renowned Executive Coach, in his book, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” (Hyperion, 2007).

That is, the leadership style that was responsible for all your success so far—your professional acumen, your drive, your independence and creativity—essentially being one of the smartest people in the room—will actually prevent you from success in the next phase of your organization.

In this phase, you must back off from how great you are, and instead, spend your time as mentor and coach, engaging your leadership team to be what (or who) you were.  What’s actually transpiring is a career change…shifting your professional identity from master engineer, psychologist, computer geek, CPA, physician (fill in the blank) to one of professional leader. Do not underestimate this transition… what drove you to become an expert in your field (what got you there) is fundamentally different than what will drive you to equally excel in your leadership.

If this journey sounds familiar to you, pick up a copy of Marshall Goldsmith’s book or think about calling The Bailey Group, 763-545-5997. Our executive coaches can assist you in successfully navigating your way through this type of leadership transition and help you “get there,” which is exactly where you want to be.