The Hidden Year-End Reflection Most Growth-Stage CEOs Skip and Why It Slows Growth

In this episode, I share critical year-end reflections for growth-stage CEOs, especially those leading organizations of around 20 employees. As companies scale, leadership must shift from personal execution to empowering others and ensuring the business can thrive even in the leader's absence. I walk through seven powerful reflection questions designed to accelerate leadership growth, from identifying your highest-impact actions to confronting avoided conversations and evaluating how well you're adapting to what the future demands. This episode challenges leaders to lead with courage, rethink their approach for the year ahead, and strengthen both self-awareness and organizational health. All reflection questions are included in the show notes for easy reference.

Episode Highlights & Time Stamps

3:09 Seven Reflection Questions for CEOs 6:33 Exploring Leadership Identity Changes 7:16 Leading with Courage in the New Year 7:54 First Steps to Empower Your Team 9:00 Closing Thoughts and Final Reflections

Episode Summary

In this episode, I guide growth-stage CEOs through a critical year-end reflection often missed during scale, especially around the 20-employee mark. As leadership demands increase, success is no longer about doing more yourself, but about building a business that can move forward without your constant presence. The episode challenges leaders to confront a simple but sobering truth: "If nothing changes in how you lead, this is exactly where your company will be next year."

Through seven focused reflection questions, I help CEOs evaluate where their leadership truly creates leverage, where it limits growth, and what must change to build a healthier, more scalable organization.

The 7 Reflection Questions

1. The Leverage Audit Which 20% of your leadership actions created 80% of your company's momentum this year?
2. The Impact Test Where did your leadership create meaningful growth in others, not just results? Who became more capable because you led differently?
3. The Avoided Conversation What is the one conversation if addressed that would most reduce friction and free you as the CEO?
4. The Capacity Gap Is the way you're currently leading sustainable for the next stage of growth?
5. The CEO Identity Shift As your company grows, which parts of your founder identity are no longer serving you? Who must you become for the business to grow beyond you?
6. The Courage Move If you were willing to lead with more courage, not more effort, what would you do differently in the first 90 days of the new year?
7. The First Shift What is the first leadership behavior you will stop, start, or delegate in the next week to reinforce a business that doesn't depend on you?

Closing Reflection

If nothing changes in how you lead, where will your company and your energy be this time next year?

All reflection questions are included here for easy reference.

Key Takeaways

• Growth-stage CEOs often become the bottleneck around the 20-employee mark; scaling requires a shift from personal execution to leadership leverage.
• If your leadership approach does not change as the company grows, it will eventually limit both organizational performance and your personal energy.
• Effective leadership is measured not by how much you do, but by how well others perform and grow in your absence.
• Identifying the small set of leadership actions that drive the majority of results creates clarity, focus, and momentum.
• Avoided conversations are often the hidden source of organizational friction and CEO overload.
• The leadership style that helped you reach this stage may not be the one required for the next phase of growth.
• Courage not increased effort is the defining factor in meaningful leadership evolution.
• Small, intentional behavior shifts (what you stop, start, or delegate) can rapidly increase organizational independence.
• Year-end reflection is not passive; when done well, it becomes a strategic act that shapes the company's future.
• Sustainable growth depends on building a business that can operate and win without relying on the CEO's constant presence.

Ideal For: Founders, CEOs, executives, managers, and anyone committed to elevating their leadership capacity.

Resources & Next Steps

Ready to take your leadership energy to the next level? Explore free training and resources at training.coreelevation.com to help you identify energy leaks, strengthen your leadership presence, and elevate your team's performance.