The Power of Talent: Expert Tips for Founders and Executives on Building High-Performing Teams

Whether you've just landed a big round of funding or you're leading a successful business that's experiencing rapid growth, one thing is clear: Your success depends on your people. Building a high-performing team is essential, especially when you're scaling fast and facing new challenges daily.

So, how do you attract, retain, and develop the right talent to push your business forward? Let’s dive in and explore why talent is your biggest asset and how you can build a winning team that thrives as your business grows.

Why Talent Is Everything

As a founder or senior leader, you know that your product or service is only as good as the people behind it. Whether you're ramping up after securing funding or expanding a thriving business, your talent pool will either propel you forward or hold you back.

It’s not just about bringing in smart, capable people; it’s about creating an environment where they can do their best work. Research shows that “highly engaged teams drive 21% more profitability” (Gallup). And with engaged employees, you’re looking at “41% less absenteeism” and 59% lower turnover in staff”—stats that make a big difference when you’re scaling and every move counts.

The hidden costs of staff turnover are frightening:

According to the Harvard Business Review, the cost of replacing a mis-hired executive can be up to 3-4 times an executive's annual salary. This includes recruitment expenses, lost productivity, potential severance costs, and the disruption caused to the business during the transition.

Another study from The Corporate Leadership Council suggests that the cost of a mis-hire at executive level can exceed £240,000, factoring in recruitment, training, and the time taken for a new hire to become fully effective.

Making hiring the right talent for your business one of the most important strategies you can implement. 

The Challenges of Growth: Building a High-Performing Team at Scale

At the early stages, your team might have been small, tight-knit, and laser-focused on your mission. But as you scale, the dynamics change. Suddenly, keeping everyone aligned and motivated can feel like juggling flaming swords. 

1. The Accidental Manager 

One major issue during growth is what we call "the accidental manager." You know the story: your best performers get promoted because they excel at their jobs. But being great at a role doesn’t automatically make someone a great leader.

According to the Chartered Management Institute, “82% of managers” in the UK haven’t had formal management training.

Gallup found that “50% of employees” quit their jobs to escape their boss. 

Bottom line: if leadership is accidental, you’re setting yourself up for disengagement and staff turnover—two things no growing business can afford.

2. Making Sure People Are in the Right Roles

As you scale, it’s crucial to make sure every person on your team is in a role that suits them—not just in terms of skills, but also their natural strengths and motivations.

Take the Gallagher Gray Talent Method, for example. It analyses 22 subconscious drives and identifies 44 natural talents creating an individual assessment that highlights what a person is great at and what they love doing. It’s all about aligning people with roles that let them thrive and contribute in ways that feel authentic to them. The result? A more engaged, motivated, and high-performing team that’s in it for the long haul.

3. Culture: The Glue That Holds It All Together

Culture isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the foundation of your company’s growth. But when you’re scaling, maintaining the culture that got you here can feel like an uphill battle. The good news? If you get it right, culture can be your secret weapon.

Deloitte’s research shows that companies with a strong culture are “4 times more likely to be profitable”. When employees feel connected to your company’s mission and values, they’re more likely to bring their best selves to work—even during those high-pressure growth phases.

But defining your culture and making sure it scales with you is no easy task. Let me give you an example.

A Client Example: Getting Clear on What High Performance Really Means

We have a client who is laser-focused on building a high-performing leadership team. He believed that setting the right tone at the top would filter through the entire company and drive success. Makes sense, right? But there was a snag: when we asked him what "high performance" actually looked like, he couldn’t quite pin it down.

After some deeper digging, we realised his idea of high performance was more about his leadership team responding on command—jumping when he said "jump" and asking "how high?" along the way..

To help him get clarity, we suggested a ‘brand culture day’ with his leadership team. Together, they defined the values behind true high performance and worked out how those values could be reflected in their behaviours and actions. It transformed the way the leadership team approached their roles, and it gave them a roadmap for how to inspire the rest of the organisation.

This experience is a reminder: having an idea of culture isn’t enough. You need to define it, articulate it, and live it through your actions every day if you want it to stick.

4. Leadership Development: Growing with Your Company

Great leadership doesn’t happen by accident, and as you scale, your leadership needs to evolve and grow, too. Unfortunately, leadership development often gets overlooked during rapid growth. But without the right guidance, even your most talented people can struggle when they step into leadership roles.

Companies that invest in leadership development see a “23% increase in performance” and a “32% boost in employee engagement” (Deloitte). So, if you want your business to thrive as it scales, don’t forget to equip your leaders with the skills they need to succeed otherwise you could find that periods of stress bring out the ‘my way or the highway’ kind of leadership.

Conclusion

It is clear from the statistics and from client feedback that high performing teams are not just about delivering numbers, they are multi-faceted.  Products and services are sold and delivered by the people in a business, making the business case for ensuring your people are great at what they do and love it.