Episode 24: Your Strength Becomes Your Bottleneck | Troy Schroeder

Episode 24: Your Strength Becomes Your Bottleneck | Troy Schroeder

Troy Schroeder built Clutch from a couple of people to just shy of 60, doubling the business several times in nine years. He was also the firm's best salesperson. Which made him, in his words, the thing standing in the way. In this conversation, Troy sits down with Glen Dall and John Ninkovich to talk about the trap most growing-company CEOs fall into. The skills that get a company off the ground are the same ones that cap it later. The generalist who has to do everything early becomes the bottleneck who can't stop doing everything later. Troy is candid about carrying the entire revenue forecast on his own back until he couldn't, and what changed when he finally let his team in. He gets into why focus beats diversification, how "new business is everybody's business" actually works in practice, and why a great hire outperforms an average one by a factor most owners underestimate. If you run a company between $10M and $100M and you've ever felt like every decision is life or death, this one will land. In this episode: * Why the best thing you had early becomes the worst thing as you scale * Carrying the revenue number alone, and what it costs you * "New business is everybody's business," and the system behind it * The three paths to new revenue, ranked by what actually works * Why focus and category expertise beat trying to serve everyone * Profit sharing and transparency without breaking the team * Separating your identity from your business so the weight doesn't crush you Connect with Troy Schroeder: https://www.linkedin.com/in/troymschroeder LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE New here? Follow the show so the next conversation finds you. * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3BuyVhr8BcMKpzfodvzCwc?si=e0d5d03780d74147 * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/escape-the-ceo-doom-loop/id1810542775 ABOUT THE PODCAST Escape the CEO Doom Loop is honest conversation about what it takes to lead a growing company without losing your mind. Each episode, Glen and John sit down with CEOs, the advisors who work alongside them, and the authors who shaped how they think. The through-line is the Doom Loop. The cycle where capable CEOs carry too much, solve instead of lead, and feel responsible for everything while trusted with nothing. The show is for owners and presidents running companies between $10M and $100M who feel some of that and rarely say it out loud. No theory, no hype. Patterns you'll recognize, and the moves that break the loop. PODCAST HOSTS Glen Dall is the founder and CEO of Apex North Business Coaching. He works with growth-stage CEOs on the leadership and structure it takes to scale, using the Apex North Star Way, powered by Metronomics. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glendall John Ninkovich is a principal at John Ninkovich Coaching, based in Detroit, and has spent his career leading and advising growing companies. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-ninkovich-398640 THE CEO PLAYBOOK The show grew out of a research project. Glen and John interviewed 72 CEOs to understand why capable leaders get stuck as their companies grow. What they found became The CEO Playbook, a short read on the fears and patterns that stall growth, and what to do about them. If anything in this episode hit home, the Playbook is your next step. Message us! Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2489741/fan_mail/new]

Episode #23: The Real Work Is Building Leaders Before You Need Them | Barry Conchie

A lot of companies say they care about leadership, then lower the standard when it is time to choose. Barry Conchie does not do that. This conversation gets into what leadership actually predicts, why most teams are built too safely, and why succession planning begins much earlier than most CEOs think. Most leadership conversations stay abstract. This one does not. We talked about hiring mistakes, weak standards, the real meaning of talent, and why CEOs get into trouble when they slide back into the job they used to do. The strongest part of this conversation is not the framework. It is the standard. Barry argues that too many organizations are led by people who are good enough to keep the seat warm, but not strong enough to create real separation. Connect with Barry Conchie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/barryconchie/] Episode Chapters [00:02:32] Why expertise eventually has to stand on its own  [00:05:53] Why Barry wrote the book after eight years of research and restraint  [00:10:46] The five talents that separate leadership from individual contribution  [00:05:00] Is the CEO doom loop a crisis, or a capability problem that was always there  [00:13:21] Why great leaders do not need to be strong in every area  [00:17:39] The warning signs of weak thinking inside a leadership team  [00:23:01] Why succession planning is really an eight year decision  [00:27:37] What happens when the CEO is the problem  [00:30:52] Talent is not the same as strength, and practice does not erase wiring  [00:44:06] Self awareness is deciding what not to do  [00:51:14] Why level five leadership may have moved the conversation, but not solved it  [00:59:07] Build the CEO first, then build a team stronger than the CEO  [01:06:07] Three things CEOs should do if they want to become excellent  [01:11:02] Where the doom loop becomes hard to escape  [01:19:03] Who Barry will work with, and who he will not Barry Conchie is the founder and president of Conchie Associates, a boutique executive assessment firm focused on helping companies reduce hiring mistakes and make better senior leadership decisions. He is the co author of The Five Talents That Really Matter, a book built from large scale executive assessment research on what actually predicts leadership performance. Barry’s work is grounded in data, direct conversation, and a clear point of view. He works with a select group of companies and is known for being forthright about fit, standards, and the real cost of weak selection decisions. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2489741/fan_mail/new]

Episode #22: Why Growth Stalls When the CEO Stays in the Middle | David Sokol

A lot of CEOs think they have a growth problem. What they really have is a leadership problem. David Sokol shares what changed in his business when he stopped being the center of everything, invested in senior leadership, and treated culture like operating infrastructure, not soft stuff. A few lines stayed with me. The ceiling was not demand. It was leadership. The risk was not delegation. It was staying in the middle too long. And growth only started to feel healthy when the business stopped depending on one person to shovel the coal. This one is for the CEO who knows the company has outgrown founder led decision making, but has not fully made the shift. If that is where you are, schedule a call. Connect with David Sokol [https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-sokol-a07bb9/] 00:10:10 From research to the real work of helping CEOs lead 00:12:34 Taking over a business that was already in trouble 00:16:09 Fixing what looked unfixable, one step at a time 00:19:00 Buying the company when the risk was still high 00:20:31 Choosing organic growth over more acquisition noise 00:23:00 Building culture through behaviors, not slogans 00:27:00 Becoming a trusted advisor by solving people problems 00:29:26 Bringing family into the business without creating entitlement 00:35:11 Breaking the growth ceiling by investing in leadership 00:42:36 Letting go of control so the business can scale 00:48:30 Playing the long game instead of protecting short term profit 00:52:00 Knowing when the CEO is stretched too thin 00:57:33 Shifting from founder energy to a true company 01:01:35 What he wishes he had invested in sooner Escape the CEO Doom Loop is for CEOs running companies in the $10–100M range who are tired of feeling like the business runs on them.  Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2489741/fan_mail/new]

Episode #21: Why Your Team Isn't Telling You the Truth | Michael Reddington

Most CEOs think they have a culture problem. Michael Reddington says it's a conversation problem. Michael is a certified forensic interviewer, president of Quaive, and author of The Disciplined Listening Method. He spent a decade with Wicklander-Zulawski and Associates training law enforcement, HR professionals, and investigators in rapport-based interviewing around the world. Today, he works directly with CEOs, sales teams, and HR leaders on something most leadership frameworks ignore — the quality of truth that moves through a business. His core argument is uncomfortable: your title is a barrier. The people around you are editing what they say before they say it. The updates you're getting are polished. The real information lives somewhere below that. This episode is about what it takes to lower that barrier — not by building a better culture deck, but by changing how you lead the conversation. In this episode: * Why leaders miss the truth in plain sight * From teacher to forensic interviewer — and what that taught about pressure * The internal voice that keeps CEOs stuck * The outside voices that reinforce fear and doubt * Reframing without starting over * Why progress is easier to see from the outside * Why listening is persuasion * What people protect when they speak to the CEO * The fraud interview that exposed a bigger problem * Why the best hard conversations feel ordinary * If you say you don't have time for rapport, you already have a problem * Why an open door policy doesn't remove fear * Control, defensiveness, and honesty in leadership conversations * The simple question that gets people talking * Shame as the real blocker to truth * Why leaders should assume people are holding back * Reframing accusation into loyalty to unlock honesty * Why these principles matter far beyond investigations Connect with Michael Reddington [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelreddingtoncfi/] 00:02:37 Why leaders miss the truth in plain sight 00:04:27 From teacher to forensic interviewer, and what that taught about pressure 00:07:42 The internal voice that keeps CEOs stuck 00:11:29 The outside voices that reinforce fear and doubt 00:14:47 Reframing without starting over 00:17:36 Why progress is easier to see from the outside 00:19:18 Why listening is persuasion 00:21:55 What people protect when they speak to the CEO 00:25:20 The fraud interview that exposed a bigger problem 00:35:48 Why the best hard conversations feel ordinary 00:39:30 If you say you do not have time for rapport, you already have a problem 00:41:00 Why an open door policy does not remove fear 00:43:13 Control, defensiveness, and honesty in leadership conversations 00:49:24 The simple question that gets people talking 00:52:24 Shame as the real blocker to truth 00:59:05 Why leaders should assume people are holding back 01:01:08 Reframing accusation into loyalty to unlock honesty 01:03:54 Why these principles matter far beyond investigations Escape the CEO Doom Loop is for CEOs running companies in the $10–100M range who are tired of feeling like the business runs on them.  Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2489741/fan_mail/new]

Episode 20: What Your Accountant Sees That You Don’t — with Pat Fuelling, CPA

Most CEOs think their CPA only sees the numbers. Pat Fuelling sees the patterns — the warning signs, the blind spots, and the decisions that separate leaders who scale from those who stall. Pat is a partner and executive committee member at Doran Mayhew, one of the top 30 CPA firms in the U.S., and has spent 32 years advising privately held businesses through growth, crisis, and everything in between. In this conversation with Glen Dall and John Ninkovich, he shares what he actually observes from inside the companies he serves. WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE: * Imposter syndrome in the CEO seat — why it doesn’t go away and how it shows up * The physical and behavioral warning signs Pat sees before companies hit a wall * Reacting vs. responding: the distinction that matters most under pressure * Growth for growth’s sake — a real example of doubling revenue while cutting profit * What high-performing leadership teams actually look like (and how rare they are) * Why the right time to invest in your team is when things are hardest * Cash flow: the blind spots most CEOs carry longer than they should * Financial transparency — what to share, who to share it with, and how * Pat’s three unconventional CEO Playbook additions: empower your people, learn from the next generation, and teach people how to think TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Introduction and how Pat and John met 2:46 — About Doran Mayhew and Pat’s role 8:07 — The CEO Doom Loop explained 10:46 — Imposter syndrome: does every CEO feel it? 12:46 — Recognizing imposter syndrome and finding your way out 14:03 — Growing leaders: from sink-or-swim to intentional development 19:30 — Clients vs. people: which comes first? 22:35 — 360 feedback and giving leaders room to grow 23:35 — Financial warning signs and the early signals of a Doom Loop 26:14 — Reacting vs. responding under pressure 26:37 — Leadership team quality: what Pat actually sees 33:29 — Outside advisors and why objectivity matters 35:32 — Reinvesting in the business when it’s hard 39:00 — Financial acumen for founder-CEOs 43:23 — Cash flow: defining terms and building a foundation 45:00 — Receivables and the false sense of security 48:24 — Financial transparency with the leadership team 51:46 — CEO Playbook: Pat’s three pieces of advice 57:15 — Why Pat went into accounting (and how he discovered it was actually about people) ABOUT THE GUEST: Pat Fuelling is a partner and executive committee member at Doeren Mayhew, a top-30 CPA firm serving privately held businesses. He’s been in the profession for over 32 years and was one of the early connectors behind the research project that became the CEO Playbook — the foundation of this podcast. ABOUT THE SHOW: Escape the CEO Doom Loop is hosted by Glen Dall and John Ninkovich of Apex North Business Coaching. Every episode is built for CEOs of growing companies who are tired of carrying everything — and ready to lead differently. RESOURCES MENTIONED: * Wild at Heart by John Eldredge * The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey * The CEO Playbook — NinkCoach/ Apex North Business Coaching * Doeren Mayhew — doranmayhew.com #CEOLeadership #ImpostorSyndrome #BusinessGrowth #CashFlow #CEODoomLoop #ApexNorth #Podcast #TrustedAdvisor #LeadershipDevelopment #PrivatelyHeldBusiness Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2489741/fan_mail/new]