When Growth Tests the Soul of a Company

When Growth Tests the Soul of a Company
“𝐈𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐈𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬?” — @𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧'𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞.

A few years ago, I lived this reality firsthand while supporting 𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒍 (𝑴𝑹𝑶) 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 — 

a company of 400+ employees, operating across 30+ sites, with €100M+ in annual revenue.

After a fund takeover, the company faced what I often call a silent fracture: strategy blurred, middle managers lost alignment, and communication froze.

The CEO said to me: “Help my leadership team work efficiently again.”

I chose to start not from the boardroom, but with the 30+ 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 — the real backbone of the organization. Using the 𝑯𝑩𝑫𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒆, I helped each manager rediscover their thinking preferences — data, process, people, or vision — and learn how to collaborate beyond them.
Two months later, I facilitated a 2-𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 10+ 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎, where we presented the common cornerstone the middle managers had co-created:
𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 – 𝐀𝐜𝐭 – 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰.
💡 Understand the facts before reacting emotionally.
⚙️ Act with structure and shared purpose.
📊 Follow with transparency, reflection, and motivation.

Those two days were intense — deep discussions, honest feedback, and moments of genuine reconnection. I saw awareness turn into alignment, and alignment turn into action.

The CEO later told me something I’ll never forget: “We had many consultants sent by the fund, even a full-time MT to review our processes. But the biggest ROI came from reconnecting our own people — leadership and middle management working together, efficiently and motivated, in the same direction.”

That experience reminded me why 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆 everything I do:
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲, to give direction.
𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, to rethink how people think together.
𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, to give every strategy a soul.

Growth doesn’t destroy culture — disconnection does.
🧩 When we scale minds as intentionally as business, we don’t just grow — we evolve.

👉 Inspired by Herrmann’s article “Is Your Company Losing Its Soul as It Grows?” link in comment 👇