Transforming culture? It starts with you, the leader.

The founders of a fast-growing rural e-commerce company began with a bold vision: to create a culture of ownership and freedom for their employees, no matter their role. They believed risk-taking wasn’t just encouraged—it was essential for startup growth. And for a while, this ethos fueled the company’s rapid rise. But as the business scaled, cracks began to appear.

Execution faltered. Decisions dragged. Growth stagnated.

When we stepped in to assess the situation, the challenges became clear: functional silos divided teams, information sharing was inconsistent, and a lack of formal processes gave rise to pseudo-bureaucracy—a common trap for startups on the brink of expansion. The founders, still deeply enmeshed in daily operations, were unintentionally stifling the autonomy they hoped to foster. Their constant presence in communication channels and involvement in nearly every transaction left teams hesitant to take risks or make decisions independently.

It was a pivotal moment for the company, and the solution lay in redefining how leadership showed up.

Through a series of workshops, we worked with the leadership team to reshape their roles. The goal was clear: empower teams to own the how and who of execution, while leaders focused on defining the what. Together, we aligned on three measurable KPIs to provide direction, then tasked the teams with forging their own path to success.

The shift started with actions—not words. The CEO, who had been entrenched in operational WhatsApp groups managing day-to-day issues, made a symbolic and practical move: he stepped back. For groups where his involvement was still needed, clear boundaries were set—his input would be limited to genuine crises. This decision was communicated across the organization to avoid misunderstandings, signaling that his silence wasn’t absence, but trust.

The change didn’t stop there. When a cross-functional team was formed to tackle ownership and growth challenges, the CEO took a bold step to cement their authority. He publicly announced their mandate, gave them a symbolic team name, and handed over decision-making power to their lead. The message was unmistakable: this team has my trust, and they should have yours too.

The results spoke volumes. The pilot team delivered innovative supply chain solutions (read related story here), pushing the boundaries of what had seemed possible. Even when their ideas felt risky, the CEO stood by them, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to empowerment.

All this wasn’t possible if it wasn’t for leadership, especially the CEO setting the tone, playing his role as “enabler” to perfection in building self-organized high performance teams.