By Tony Bednar | President & Integrator at Strategic Talent Partners
Several years ago, after one of the very first conversations I had with our co-founder, Mike Frommelt, I sent him a letter. In it, I shared an experience from earlier in my career that has shaped how I think about leadership, growth, and the choices business owners have.
At the center of that experience was a business owner whose story stuck with me because it reflects something I see all too often in privately held businesses: owners reaching a point where they feel they have run out of options, when the real issue is that the business has simply outgrown the leadership structure around them.
A Strong Business with a Growing Burden
In the letter, I described how this owner had built a small printing company in Massachusetts that served residential real estate agents across the country. By any outside measure, the business was successful. It had carved out a niche, built loyal customers, and developed a distinct personality in the market.
A big reason for that success was the founder himself. He was the creative force behind the business. He understood his customers, knew how to connect with them, and brought humor and originality to the company’s marketing in a way that made it stand out.
He loved that part of the work.
What he did not love was what growth eventually required from him. As the company expanded, the day-to-day demands of running it started to take over. Manufacturing issues, IT problems, HR challenges, and management responsibilities crowded out the work that gave him energy. He hired managers to help, but he still could not find the balance he was looking for.
Over time, frustration turned into a conclusion: if he wanted his life back, he needed to sell the business.
And that is exactly what he did.
What Changed After the Sale
That’s where I came into the story. I was part of the team that acquired his company, and as the deal was closing, I was asked to relocate and become the General Manager.
After spending time learning the business and understanding the management team, one thing became clear very quickly: this founder still had tremendous value to offer. The problem was not that he no longer belonged in the business. It was that he had been carrying responsibilities that pulled him away from the work that made him so valuable in the first place.
So, one of the first moves I made was to put him on a six-month contract with one focused responsibility: designing the next catalog.
That decision changed everything.
Relieving him of the day-to-day burdens that had been wearing him down for years allowed him to refocus on the creative work that energized him and had contributed so much to the company’s success.
A few months into that arrangement, he said something I have never forgotten. He told me he had convinced himself that selling the company was the only way to get balance back in his life. But as it turned out, that was not true. What he really needed was the right support around him – someone else to take on the responsibilities that were draining him so he could focus on the work he loved.
He needed the right leadership structure.
What He Could Have Done Differently
In this case, selling the company was not the owner’s only option. It was simply the only option he could see at the time. The leadership structure around the business had not evolved fast enough to make a different path visible.
In hindsight, he likely needed a more intentional talent strategy much earlier.
He needed the space to step back and ask harder questions. What stage of growth is the business really in? What kind of leadership structure does that stage require? Which responsibilities should stay with the owner, and which should move to other leaders? Where are the real gaps in the team?
Those are exactly the kinds of questions we help companies address through our Strategic Talent Roadmap™.
The Strategic Talent Roadmap™ is built to align people with business strategy. It helps leadership teams gain clarity on where the business is today, where it’s trying to go, and what leadership structure will be required to get there. Rather than reacting to pain points one at a time, it creates a practical roadmap for how the overall organization, leadership team, and key roles need to evolve to support growth.
In a situation like this founder’s, that kind of work could have made all the difference. It could have clarified the mismatch between his role and what the business needed. It could have helped define a future-state org chart that kept him focused on the areas where he added the most value while shifting day-to-day operational responsibility to the right leader – whether that meant an Integrator, a strong operator, or another key leadership hire.
Most importantly, it could have created options before frustration turned into a major ownership decision.
The Real Takeaway
This story offers a prime example of why I believe so strongly that talent strategy should not be reactive.
Too many business owners wait until growth stalls, execution gets messy, or they feel personally overwhelmed before they take a serious look at leadership structure. By then, the cost of misalignment is already high.
Sometimes selling is absolutely the right move. But it should be a strategic decision made with clarity and confidence, not the result of believing there are no other viable paths forward.
The good news is that this can often be addressed earlier than people think. When you step back, assess the business honestly, and build a leadership plan that fits your next stage of growth, you create room for stronger execution, better alignment, and more options.
That is the power of a real talent strategy.
If growth is creating more pressure than clarity, it may be time to step back and rethink the leadership structure around your business.
