Developing Leaders Without Slowing the Business
Why leadership capability must grow in parallel with capital and complexity
Growth is exciting. Revenue increases. Headcount expands. Investors lean in. Customers expect more. But there’s a less visible shift happening underneath all of that momentum: complexity increases faster than capability.
If leadership capability doesn’t grow at the same rate as capital and scale, progress quietly slows.
Not because the opportunity isn’t strong. Not because the team isn’t smart, but because the leadership muscle required at the next stage is different from the one that got you here.
Capital accelerates complexity
When businesses raise capital, secure major contracts, or expand into new markets, three things tend to happen at once:
Decision volume increases
Stakeholder expectations increase
Interdependence across teams increases
The founder who once made 20 decisions a week is now making 200.. or holding up decisions because everything still funnels back to them.
The technical expert who stepped into a leadership role is suddenly responsible for performance conversations, cross-functional alignment, and commercial trade-offs.
When structure evolves, expectations shift and pressure builds. Growth doesn’t just demand more people. It demands different leadership capability.
Pip Spyksma, CEO | Leadership Advisor, Sprout People
According to Stats NZ, over 97% of New Zealand businesses are small-to-medium enterprises. Many experience rapid growth phases without equivalent investment in formal leadership development or organisational design.
Why leadership capability often lags behind growth
In our work with NZ founders and senior leaders, we consistently see three patterns:
1. Promotion based on performance, not leadership readiness
High-performing technical contributors are promoted because they are excellent at their craft. But leading people, managing ambiguity, and navigating commercial trade-offs require a different skillset.
Research from the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRNZ) has repeatedly highlighted that many NZ organisations identify leadership development as a top priority yet fewer feel confident in their leadership pipeline depth.
2. Founders staying too close to decisions
Founders and CEOs often remain deeply embedded in operational decision-making. This feels responsible but over time it constrains scale.
As complexity increases, decision-making must be distributed. That requires clarity, trust, and capable leaders beneath the founder.
3. Leadership development treated as “extra”
When growth accelerates, leadership development is often postponed because “the business is too busy.”
Ironically, that is precisely when it becomes most critical.
What happens when leadership capability doesn’t keep up?
When capital grows faster than capability, organisations experience:
Slower decision-making
Increased friction across teams
Burnout at senior levels
Inconsistent accountability
Reduced investor confidence
A McKinsey study on organisational health found that companies in the top quartile for leadership and talent management significantly outperform those in the bottom quartile in long-term financial performance.
Leadership capability isn’t a “nice to have.” It's a multiplier or a constraint.
Developing leaders without slowing the business
The common concern we hear is this: “We don’t have time to step people out of the business for development.”
The good news is: you shouldn’t.
Effective leadership development in growing businesses must be:
1. Anchored to real work
Development should connect directly to live decisions, real performance conversations, and actual commercial pressures.
2. Built around accountability
Clarity of role, decision rights, and expectations accelerates growth more than inspirational content ever will.
3. Designed for leaders in the thick of it
Programmes that assume ideal conditions don’t work in scaling environments. Leaders need tools they can apply immediately.
Research from the NZ Institute of Management and Leadership (NZIM) highlights that practical, applied leadership development, rather than purely theoretical training, produces stronger behavioural change and business impact.
Leadership development doesn’t slow the business when it is embedded in the business.
Capital follows confidence
Investors are increasingly scrutinising leadership depth.
They ask:
Who owns what?
What happens if the founder steps back?
How scalable is this decision-making structure?
Where are the capability gaps?
Confidence isn’t built through vision slides alone.
It’s built through visible leadership maturity.
When leadership capability grows in parallel with capital and complexity, businesses move faster.
The practical question for founders and CEOs
If your business is growing, ask:
Is decision-making distributed clearly?
Are emerging leaders equipped for the scope they now carry?
Does structure support speed, or create dependency?
Are we building capability ahead of pressure or reacting to it?
Growth exposes leadership gaps quickly.
Proactive development protects momentum.
Accelerating success through people
At Sprout, we work with founders, CEOs, and senior leadership teams across New Zealand to strengthen leadership capability as organisations scale, through recruitment, organisational design, and leadership training and development.
Because growth isn’t just about capital. It’s about whether your leaders can carry the next stage.
If leadership capability is live in your business right now, talk to us.
