Intentional Leadership: How Fixing Culture Fuels Real Growth

By Miriam Groom

Power today doesn’t look like the loudest voice in the room. It looks like alignment, clarity, and the courage to lead from values, not ego. The days when authority was measured by volume are already behind us. The most transformative leaders I’ve encountered possess a quiet conviction, rooted in purpose and grounded in empathy. They understand that true influence stems from creating cultures where people feel valued, connected, and empowered to speak up, and not silenced by hierarchy or fear. This shift in mindset is not just philosophical; it’s practical, shaping how decisions are made, teams are built, and outcomes are measured.

This year, my biggest leadership breakthrough came from doing something that most would consider risky: I paused growth to fix culture. As someone who has built a career advising scale-stage businesses on how to move fast and seize market opportunities, my default had always been to optimize for momentum. Speed was the metric everyone celebrated. Yet, when it came to leading my own team, I found that our rapid ascent was beginning to erode the very foundation we’d built. Growth was happening, but beneath the surface, fractures were forming cracks that numbers and dashboards couldn’t diagnose.

We had just closed a high-six-figure deal, a milestone that should have been cause for celebration. New clients were lined up, our pipeline was healthy, and expectations were soaring. But inside the organization, communication gaps were widening, ownership was becoming blurred, and emotional burnout was simmering just below the surface. I could see the signs: tense meetings, missed handoffs, subtle finger-pointing. It became painfully clear that pushing forward, unchecked, would risk everything we had worked for. That’s when I made the decision to pause our onboarding process for three weeks delaying revenue and risking client impatience.

During that intentional pause, we ran a series of candid feedback sessions. Everyone’s voice mattered, from our most senior leaders to our newest hires. Together, we redefined roles and clarified expectations, stripping away legacy assumptions and bringing unspoken frustrations to the surface. We co-created new team norms around how we’d collaborate, communicate, and hold one another accountable. These weren’t just rules; they were living agreements that reflected our shared values. It was uncomfortable at times, but it forged something stronger than consensus: trust. And while it came at a tangible short-term cost, what we gained was immeasurable.

The impact was almost immediate. Within six weeks, our team velocity jumped by 40%. Errors dropped, and internal satisfaction scores reached an all-time high. Most strikingly, we closed another major client—who specifically cited our internal cohesion and transparent culture as key reasons for choosing us over a competitor. But the deeper transformation was personal. For the first time, I stopped trying to hold everything together through sheer effort and willpower. I started leading through clarity instead of control. It felt less like orchestrating a performance and more like holding space for real collaboration and growth.

The lesson for me was simple but profound: scaling isn’t just about adding more people, more clients, or more products. 

It’s about consciously removing what no longer fits such as old habits, rigid hierarchies, inherited expectations, and fragile egos. True power is not about domination or having all the answers; it’s about setting direction and empowering others to move with you. When you lead with alignment and presence, even the boldest moves become a collective step forward. That’s the new definition of leadership I strive for: less performance, more presence; less noise, more intention. And when your people feel safe, seen, and strong, that’s when you and your team are truly powerful.

Connect With Miriam

www.linkedin.com/in/miriamgroom