The pre-teen years, for people, are some of the most challenging years of life.
These are the in-between years. You have a large body, but your hormones and mind haven’t fully developed yet. You like girls or boys but are scared of them.
You are neither a child nor an adult. It’s awkward.
So it is with organizations that grow. For many founders, the “pre-teen” years are both the hardest but some of the most formative to grow through. Some never emerge out the other side. Some retreat back to their former, smaller, years.
This phase is usually between 2 and 20 employees for most industries, but this can vary.
Here are some common challenges or symptoms of the awkward years of organizational growth:
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You’re big enough to have lots of work but not big enough to have lots of resources and capacity (other leaders to share the load, financial resources, etc.).
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People feel that there are not enough hours in the day.
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People spend too much time “putting out fires.”
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Many people are not aware of what others are doing.
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The team is probably asking, “What are we trying to accomplish? Where are we going? What are our goals?”
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The founder is usually the lynchpin for all major decisions, so they are burning out carrying a big load.
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Organizational structure often becomes unclear, with undefined roles and lanes
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Most people feel that the company’s meetings are a waste of time.
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Plans are seldom made and even more seldom followed upon, so big priorities often go undone leading to a sense of stagnation.
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Often core processes like hiring, the customer journey, sales, marketing, HR, and finance haven’t been clearly defined in a repeatable way so people are confused or operating in chaos.
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Leadership is generally lacking, and people aren’t being developed, so people tend to stagnate or flounder in their career
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Some people feel insecure about their place in the company
Does any of this feel familiar?
First, congratulations, you made it this far because you are a rare breed of entrepreneur and you’ve found a certain amount of product/market fit to make it to this point!
Second, this is normal! Just like a child experiences some awkwardness as they grow, so an organization experiences growing pains.
Here are some ways forward:
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What got you here won’t get you to the next level, so as a leader you’ll need to understand this is a new phase and “business as usual” won’t bring thriving.
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In order to grow to the next level, the founder will have to learn how to create processes and delegate.
This is harder than it looks!
If you find yourself getting discouraged by the awkward years, there’s hope! At CloudNINE we help leaders and organizations navigate these waters as trusted Growth Guides, so you don’t have to figure it out yourself.
If you’re in this phase and in search of resources and help, please reach out we love helping entrepreneurs break through the awkward years and flourish.
