Why Growth Stalls — And What to Do About It

One of the most common (and most overlooked) reasons companies stall out—especially when they’re on the verge of the next level—isn’t strategy.

It’s not sales.

And it’s definitely not lack of hustle.

It’s people.

More specifically: it’s a failure to get the Right People in the Right Seats.

I’ve seen this pattern surface time and again. Most recently, I worked with a high-growth software company that had hit a classic inflection point: larger clients, tighter timelines, growing complexity—and strain on the team.

At the heart of it was Alicia. One of the company’s original developers. Brilliant. Loyal. Creative. The kind of person who’d walk through fire for the team.

Naturally, when the company started to scale, Alicia was promoted into a project management role.

That’s when the cracks began to show.

Deadlines slipped. Accountability waned. Morale dropped. Alicia—once the team’s creative engine—was overwhelmed and disengaged.

The root issue?

Alicia wasn’t in the right seat.

To get clarity, we pulled out a key tool from the EOS Toolbox™: GWC.

• Gets It – Does she understand what the role actually requires?
• Wants It – Does she genuinely want the seat, or is she there out of obligation?
• Capacity to Do It – Does she have the time, skill, and emotional bandwidth?

In Alicia’s case, she wanted to lead and had the capacity—but she didn’t fully Get the PM role. Her genius zone was still in building, coding, solving—not in scheduling, delegating, or managing cross-functional complexity.

So we made a call.

We moved Alicia back into a senior dev seat and brought in a junior PM to support the team.

What happened next?

Project velocity improved

Team energy rebounded

Alicia re-engaged—and thrived

The insight?

GWC™ isn’t a judgment tool. It’s a clarity tool.

And when you combine it with another cornerstone EOS tool—the People Analyzer—you gain a simple but powerful system to assess alignment with your company’s Core Values and the GWC framework.

Together, they reveal where your team is aligned, where coaching is needed, and where hard conversations may be necessary.

Here’s what misalignment silently corrodes:

• Productivity
• Morale
• Client trust
• Long-term scalability

And here’s what alignment unlocks:

• Smoother execution
• Stronger culture
• Sharper decisions
• Scalable growth

If you’re leading a team, EOS gives you language, tools, and structure to make the tough decisions with confidence—not emotion.

Because businesses don’t scale through pressure. They scale through alignment.

And your team? They deserve to be in seats where they don’t just survive…

They thrive.

If this resonates, let’s connect. Or forward this to someone building a team who needs to hear it.

And if you want to get clear fast?

Download the People Analyzer. It’s one of the most effective tools we use at The Greenhouse to help leadership teams assess their people against Core Values and GWC—objectively.

Here’s how it works:

For each team member, you mark:

• if they consistently meet expectations
• +/- if they’re inconsistent
• – if they’re off-track

If someone’s all plusses: amazing—they’re a fit. But if you see a mix of +/– or – signs, it’s a signal to dig deeper.

It’s not about blame. It’s about visibility.

And visibility creates traction.

We’ve seen this simple tool spark game-changing clarity for leadership teams across industries.

Try it. You might be surprised by what it shows you.

Want to learn more?

Schedule a FREE 90-Minute Meeting where we’ll show you:

• Why EOS works, is so successful and helps free owners
• Exactly where your team needs to grow to the next stage
• Our Foundational Tools and how we implement them
• Our Proven Process and how we guarantee value behind what we do