The Reason Your Teams Feel Stuck (And How to Unblock Them in a Day)

Many CEOs miss the early days of their company. When a small group of people could do amazing things. Everyone was on the same page. You moved quickly. You could change direction, learn, and feel like you were making progress every day.

But now? It’s harder.

You’ve got more people. More meetings. More decisions. And somehow, everything takes longer than it should.

You have to be involved in things you don’t want to be involved in, but if you’re not, nothing moves. You look at what teams are working on and wonder: Why that? Not this? You don’t feel like people understand where you need them to go. You don’t want to micromanage, but if you don’t step in, things drift.

You pull everyone into a big alignment meeting. You lay it all out. And a week later? It’s like it never happened.

This isn’t just your company. It happens often when a company goes through an inflection point 

I’ve Seen This Problem for Years

I’ve seen this as an employee. As a consultant. As a vendor. And here’s the thing I’ve learned:

Most people in an organization don’t really know what they’re supposed to be doing. And they definitely don’t know why.

So instead of forward motion, you get:

• Debates about what matters

• Conflicting opinions about goals

• Projects that get started, stalled, or shelved

And that leads to real damage.

Morale tanks as people feel jerked around.Progress slows because no one knows what to push.

Trust erodes as goals shift in unpredictable ways 

Leaders feel it too. The pressure. The frustration.

I have tried to solve this problem and haven’t quite gotten there 

I’ve written blog posts. I’ve given talks (including a TEDx). I don’t think I’ve helped people solve it as much as I want to.

So I’m going to try again.

Because I know what it feels like to be on a small team doing great things. It’s hard. It’s fun. It’s meaningful. You build something together and your bonds are strong. .

That’s what I want for leaders and teams. But right now, too many of them don’t have that.

The Direction Disconnect

Here’s how you know this problem is showing up:

• Nothing moves without you.

• Teams are going in the wrong direction—or not moving at all.

• Your big meetings feel like you’re hitting reset, over and over.

• Execution slows. Morale dips. Friction rises.

You might think this is a performance problem. Or a process problem. And yes, you might have some of that too.

But if your team doesn’t have clear direction and a connection to purpose, even your best people won’t succeed.

You can’t process your way out of a direction problem.And replacing teams is time-consuming, expensive, and painful.

Fixing direction? That’s easier than you think.It can happen in a day and you’ll know almost immediately if it’s working.

How direction gets lost

In the early days, everyone hears the strategy straight from the top. They know the mission. They get the vibe.

But as you grow, that signal starts to break down.

It’s like a radio: strong if you’re in range. Garbled—and eventually silent—the further you get.

What your company needs is a signal booster. You need other leaders who aren’t just repeating the words—they’re translating them. Making them relevant for their part of the business. So every team, at every level, knows:

• Where we’re going

• What matters right now

• How to decide what to do next

  
  

Imagine This

Imagine sitting at a table with your CEO. No phones. No laptops.

They lay out the big vision. The priorities. The decisions we need to make.

And for the first time in a while, you think: “I get it. I know why I’m here. I know what we’re building. I know how we will win.”

That feeling? That energy? It’s powerful.

But most people in growing companies never get to feel it. They never get that level of clarity or focus.

Sometimes, it’s because the CEO doesn’t communicate clearly. Other times, it’s because the message falls apart after the meeting.

But what if it didn’t?

What if your message was crystal clear—and repeatable? What if other leaders could share it with confidence, adapting it for their teams while keeping the core intact?

What if direction was part regular planning, prioritization, tradeoffs?

That’s not a pipe dream. It’s doable.

Direction Can Be Designed

What it takes is:

• A clear message

• Captured in a simple, reusable format

• With tools for leaders to apply it in real decisions

Without that, your teams will just keep reacting to the last loudest thing.And your strategy will sit in a deck somewhere while everyone else makes it up as they go.

I’ve seen this gap at every level of growth. I’ve seen what happens when it’s not fixed.

And I believe we can do better.

So What Would That Look Like?

What would it look like if your teams had a stronger connection to the vision?

If every leader had a toolkit for:

• Explaining where we’re going

• Making priorities clear

• Helping teams make smart decisions day to day

  
  

I think it would look like progress.It would feel like teamwork.And I think everyone would have a hell of a lot more fun.

So I’m going to try and help.

I’ll introduce some tools to do just that. You can tell me what works, what doesn’t, and what you need next.

Let’s build teams and companies we want to be part of. And let’s finally fix the direction disconnect.