The founder’s real job is to create the conditions for the business to keep growing.
That may sound like semantics, but it reflects one of the most important lessons I’ve learned after 25 years working with growth companies in the UK and Canada.
Businesses don’t grow continuously. They grow in episodes.
Research shows that periods of sustained growth typically last three to six years before performance stabilizes. The real challenge isn’t achieving one growth phase: it’s creating the next one. In fact, only around 15 per cent of companies successfully repeat a sustained growth episode.
Growth doesn’t happen by accident. It is catalyzed by leaders who can identify the next opportunity, make difficult strategic choices and align their organization behind them. That’s why we called Alberta’s leadership development and growth program Growth Catalyst.
When I first began working with founders, I focused almost entirely on the CEO. Those experiences were transformational, but one problem surfaced repeatedly. Founders returned inspired and ready to lead differently, yet on Monday morning they faced the same challenge: how do you bring everyone else with you?
The answer, I came to realize: founders don’t scale companies. Leadership teams do.
While founders remain central to every growth story, sustainable growth depends on a leadership team that can think strategically together, challenge assumptions, make aligned decisions and execute with confidence. Strategy cannot remain inside the founder’s head.
With foundational support from PrairiesCan, Alberta Innovates and the TD Ready Commitment, a $3.5 million investment enabled us to build and refine a made-in-Alberta model. Since 2022, more than 100 companies and over 370 leaders across Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton have participated in Growth Catalyst. From $5 million businesses to organizations exceeding $100 million in revenue, we’ve found that while industries differ, the fundamentals of scaling remain remarkably consistent.
We often describe Growth Catalyst as a practical MBA for leadership teams. Instead of analysing someone else’s business, your own company becomes the case study. Leadership teams leave with a shared strategy, practical tools and, just as importantly, greater confidence in creating their next growth episode.
Our team is continuing to learn. Our newest longitudinal study follows leadership teams through the program to better understand how strategy is built collectively – one of the least understood, yet most important, aspects of business growth.
If Alberta wants more companies to become Canada’s next generation of scale-ups, we need to invest not only in ambitious founders, but in leadership teams capable of building the next chapter of growth.
Catalyze what’s next.
