We often talk about business growth in terms of markets, opportunities, partnerships and numbers.
But behind every business that grows, there is a person making decisions. You.
And that person matters.
With more than 800 hours of coaching founders, business owners, and leaders from different backgrounds, cultures, and business environments, I have seen that as the business grows, the person behind it has to grow too.
That is often the part we leave for the end.
We ask all the usual business growth questions: What does the business need next? A new market, more clients, a bigger team, a new service?
But we don’t always ask the most important question:
Who do I need to become to grow?
More opportunities don’t always mean more clarity or more growth
More opportunities can be exciting.
They can also create more things competing for your attention.
And when everything feels important, clarity is in question.
We can have several priorities, ideas and possibilities pulling us in different directions.
Nothing is necessarily wrong with any of them.
The challenge is deciding what deserves attention now.
We can have so many possibilities in front of us that the real challenge is knowing which one deserves our attention.
One of the biggest powers you gain as a leader is the ability to decide what not to do.
Not every opportunity needs your attention. Not every idea needs to become a project. Not every priority needs to be a priority now.
Good leadership requires choices.
You cannot eat a whole cake in one bite
Think about eating a cake.
You cannot eat the whole cake in one bite.
You start with a spoonful. Then another. Maybe you take a slice. You continue, and eventually the cake is gone.
Business growth can be the same.
When there are exciting possibilities in front of you, it can be tempting to take on everything at once.
A new market, a new collaboration, a new offer, a new idea.
But taking on more does not necessarily move the business forward.
You have to decide what comes first.
That does not mean thinking small. It means giving your attention to the things that can create movement.
We don’t always need another answer
A business owner may come into a session looking for an answer.
Through the conversation, we slow down. We unpack what is happening. We look at the different pieces.
And the answer becomes clearer because there is finally enough space to see it.
This matters when you are working in unfamiliar environments or navigating growth across different markets.
There may not be a perfect blueprint.
You might make the wrong call. A partnership might not work. A conversation might not go the way you expected. An idea might need to change.
That does not automatically mean you failed.
It may mean you learned something that the plan could never have taught you.
The question is not always, “What is the right answer?”
It can be:
What am I not seeing yet?
Don’t wait for the big win
We are very good at moving the finish line.
We get the client, and immediately think about the next client. We reach the target, and immediately create another one. We enter a new market, and start thinking about what comes after it.
Ambition is important. But if we only recognise the big milestones, we can miss the progress happening in between.
That is why one of the first questions I ask at the beginning of a coaching session is very simple:
“What is your win?”
It might be a major business achievement.
It might also be, “I finally had the conversation I had been avoiding.” “I made the decision I had been postponing.” “I said no.” “I tested the idea instead of thinking about it for another three months.”
Those are wins too.
Starting with a win gives us a place to begin. It reminds us that progress is already happening, even when there is still a long way to go.
A win does not mean everything went perfectly.
It means you can recognise progress.
And when you recognise progress, you have something to build on.
Growth should include you
There is another question founders and leaders need to ask as their businesses grow:
What is the cost of this growth?
Not only financially.
What is it costing your time, your energy, your attention, your ability to think clearly?
Growth requires effort. It will challenge you. There will be uncomfortable decisions and periods of uncertainty.
But there is a difference between being challenged by growth and being consumed by it.
Sustainable growth does not mean doing less or avoiding ambition.
It means building a business in a way that allows you to grow with it.
Whether you are building your business in your home country, entering a new market, working with an international team or serving clients around the world, your leadership comes with you.
Your mindset goes with it.
Your decisions go with it.
Your habits, boundaries and ability to adapt go with it.
And the next step for the business may not require another strategy.
It may require a boundary, a risk, a different perspective, or simply recognising how far you have already come.
Growth is rarely one giant leap.
It is built through the decisions you make, the conversations you have, the things you learn and the wins you recognise along the way.
At the end of a coaching session, there is one more question I often ask:
“What changes from tomorrow?”
Because insight only becomes meaningful when something changes.
And wherever your business is going in the world, you are going there too.
Christina Michaelidou
ICF Leadership and Business Coach, Mentor, Trainer, Author & Board Marketing & Communications Director, ICF Cyprus Chapter
https://www.designyourwins.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-michaelidou-8478a2215/
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