Where do you want to go next?
We will help you determine if Champion Leadership™ is the right fit for you and answer any of your question.
3 Invisible Gates That Stop Most Companies Flat
How many people can one person manage?
Harvard Business Review estimates the ideal range for an experienced manager is between five
and nine direct reports. Inc. pegs the sweet spot at seven.
The ratio of managers to direct reports matters because it explains why some companies grow
and others plateau. Every business is different, but you can loosely think of a company’s
evolution as a series of stages with an invisible gate holding most owners from progressing to
the next stage:
Stage 1: Doers (up to 9 employees)
In stage 1, you direct a handful of doers. You need people who can follow your standard operating procedures and execute. Your best employees will often be generalists who can do a lot of things reasonably well. They thrive on variety and like the feeling of getting things done.
Many owners get stuck in stage 1 because they fear delegation. Owners don’t trust
employees enough to do the work without their direct oversight. However, those
owners courageous enough to hire some managers will graduate to stage 2.
Stage 2: Managers (10–40 employees)
In a Stage 2 company, the owner hires a small number of managers (usually less than
five), who are paid to ensure their direct reports execute. The emphasis is on managing
against the plan the owner gives them. Good managers understand the process they are
being asked to manage. They are detail-oriented and stick to the plan.
While managers may contribute to the plan, they are not usually responsible for
creating it. Managers typically need their leader(s) to supply their plan, which is why
many companies stall out at stage 2.
Stage 3: Leaders (40 + employees)
For our purposes here, let’s define a leader as a person who can lead a team through
more than one layer of management.
Let’s imagine you have a sales leader who oversees two sales managers, each of whom
has five salespeople reporting to them. The leader’s job is to set direction and to
provide a vision and plan for their managers to execute. They are leading a team of
twelve (two managers plus ten salespeople) while simultaneously managing two direct
reports.
While most leaders can manage, the opposite is not necessarily true. Leadership
requires managers to learn a new set of skills. Leaders need to be able to communicate
clearly, delegate effectively, and create a strategy.
If you’re stuck at stage 2, you have two options: either you need to hire leaders to
parachute into your organization, which risks alienating your managers, or train
managers to become leaders. Both strategies are hard and time-consuming, which is
why many companies get stuck at stage 2.
Half Your People, Half Your Processes
For an example of a company that successfully managed the transition to stage 3, take a look at
Acceleration Partners. Started by Robert Glazer in 2007, Acceleration Partners is an agency
specializing in partner marketing. Acceleration Partners is a people-centric business that helps
brands reach and manage their influencer relationships.
In the beginning, Glazer began hiring people to help him manage clients and their projects. As
he described on a recent episode of Built to Sell Radio, Acceleration Partners’ needs evolved as
the company expanded: “Every time your company doubles in size, you outgrow half your
people and half your processes.”
Glazer grew Acceleration Partners for 14 years, and by the time he sold it in 2021, Glazer had an
entire team of leaders overseeing a group of managers who were managing the people doing
the work.
If you’re stuck, it’s worth asking if you have the right people in place to take your business to
the next stage. In the beginning, you will need managers you can trust. And to graduate to
stage 3, you’ll need people who can manage and lead. Some managers may need training, while
other areas of your business may need an entirely new leader to make the transition successful.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Featured Articles
Some people define insanity as “doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.” Sadly, this is how many SaaS brands operate. ….read more
Numbers don't lie. As a SaaS owner, you are always looking at the numbers to make decisions. Two of the most important numbers ….read more
Executive Navigation
The core way we help B2B SaaS leaders progress and achieve their goals.
Executive Navigation is based on experience, not just theory. It is successful entrepreneurs helping growing entrepreneurs scale their business from $1M – $10M+ in revenue.
Executive Navigation is designed to accelerate growth by flattening the learning curve. Want to learn more?
