How one founder’s mindset shift rebuilt trust, reignited momentum, and turned a struggling company into a portfolio standout and cultural benchmark.
The Situation
After selling a significant portion of his company in a strategic acquisition, this founder was growing tired of “big company politics” and on the verge of quitting. He was now reporting to a corporate parent whose values and culture clashed with his own. To make matters worse, he didn’t trust his own executive team anymore and found himself micromanaging every decision.
In short, the founder was stuck in fear mode, convinced things were happening to him. He was unaware that his own mindset was contributing to the dysfunction and that his tendency to be either over-involved or totally disengaged was dragging down both the team and the business.
Overall, he felt emotionally drained and isolated, and was seriously considering just walking away, leaving millions in earnout incentives on the table and his “baby” in the cold hands of corporate managers.
Coaching Goals
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Triage the founder’s emotional burnout and begin the process of rebuilding trust with himself, his team, and his new corporate owners
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Move him out of fear and crisis mode into a more grounded, empowered mindset
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Surface and confront the unhelpful fixed mindset that was driving his stress and reactivity
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Shift his perspective from being founder-centric to a more customer- and team-centric leadership
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Anchor his decisions in personal values and long-term outcomes, both in his work and life
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Build healthy habits around empowerment, seeing the best in people, and being more of a coach and less of a critic.
Our Approach
Velocity partnered with the founder to move him out of fear and isolation, and to help him see the bigger picture, calibrate his level of control, and lead with clear values and intention.
Together, we:
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Right-sized the problem by guiding him out of crisis mode to see the situation more clearly and less emotionally.
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Reframed the narrative to shift away from a reactive scarcity and fear mindset to one that put him back in the driver’s seat, leveraging his strengths and the incredible resources available to him.
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Uncovered patterns of avoidance, disengagement, and nitpicking in his relationships—habits he recognized were getting in his way.
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Leveraged 360-degree feedback to increase his self-awareness, surface blind spots, and refocus him on leadership growth.
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Coached the founder to take ownership by moving beyond blame and leading from the inside out.
Behavioral Shifts
As new practices took hold, here’s how the founder transformed:
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He recognized old patterns and chose new responses – We developed a daily “Instead of...X, I choose...Y” practice with visual cues to spot reactive habits and shift from knee-jerk emotional reactions to thoughtful, intentional responses.
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Created space for others to lead – By stepping back and trusting his team, he allowed others to take ownership and fill in the leadership gaps.
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Prioritized the customer – He switched from a founder-first mindset to a customer-centered one, leading to smarter decisions, tighter team alignment, and faster growth.
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Made space for self-care – He was able to build a morning routine with meditation, exercise, and better nutrition that kept him focused, energized, and conscious of his impact as a leader.
Key Outcomes
What began as a small change in mindset and habits ended up transforming not only the CEO, but the team and entire company, as well.
For the CEO:
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Started responding with intention instead of reacting out of fear, using simple self-care habits to stay grounded and lead with more calm and clarity.
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Rebuilt trust with his team, letting go of needing to do it all and started leaning on others to step in.
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Went from almost giving up the business to thriving seven years later, leading with purpose, loving the work again, and surpassing every financial goal he ever had.
For the Team:
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Once the CEO started making more space, the team started stepping up, leading where needed, and owning decisions that kept momentum going.
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With growing trust and clearer priorities, teamwork improved and decision-making became more aligned across the organization.
For the Company:
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Moved from founder-focused to customer-first, which helped the company stave off the competition and surpass even the most aggressive revenue goals.
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Went from being a laggard to the fastest-growing and most successful company in the portfolio, with the CEO’s leadership style and values serving as a model for others to replicate.
