Growth & Scaling Episodes

Most leaders are technically brilliant. They work hard. They have good intentions. And they're still just… average. In this episode of Leading Through Growth, Tony Sanders sits down with Josh White, Vice President of Talent Management at Group 1001, to unpack what actually drives performance inside a company. Spoiler: it's probably not what you think. Drawing from Google's Project Oxygen study and Josh's real experience scaling companies, they challenge the leadership philosophy that says,...

Most founders wait until something breaks. By then, it's already cost them six figures. In this episode of Leading Through Growth, Tony Sanders sits down with Tina Lindenbrink, a fractional Chief People Officer with 30 years of experience building HR functions from the ground up. Tina has stood up entire HR departments for companies with 1,000 employees and now does that work for growth-stage businesses that aren't ready for a full-time HR team but desperately need the structure and foundatio...

Most leaders think about scaling in terms of revenue, product, and market share. But what about the people systems that have to grow with it? In this episode, Tony sits down with Steve Cadigan, LinkedIn's first ever Chief Human Resources Officer, who helped scale the company from 400 to 4,000 employees in just over three years through an IPO. Steve didn't walk into a polished HR machine. He walked into chaos: no policies, no job architecture, no compensation philosophy, and a leadership team skeptical of HR. This is the story of what it actually takes to build a talent strategy from scratch in a hyper growth environment, and why most of what we've been taught about retention, culture, and leadership development is built for a world that no longer exists. What you'll learn: Why builders and sustainers are two different profiles (and how to know which one you are) The moment LinkedIn's board admitted they had no answers for the growth ahead How LinkedIn stopped trying to win the recruit…

Pinky Cole built Slutty Vegan from an apartment Instagram hustle into a $100M brand — then filed for bankruptcy. In this Growth Trap case study, Tony Sanders breaks down the leadership collapse behind the brand using Pinky's own words: "Sometimes you put basketball players on the golf course." You'll walk away with four failure modes that show up in almost every fast-growing company, and three things you can do right now to make sure your leaders are developed for the business you're building...

If you've ever scrolled past a TikTok telling you to never trust HR, this episode is for you. Angie Woods has spent 30 years in human resources — and she's on a mission to change how leaders think about the people function. As a Chief People Officer at a rapidly scaling company, Angie isn't just filling seats. She's building systems, developing leaders, and creating the kind of culture that can actually survive explosive growth. In this conversation, Tony and Angie dig into what it really ...

In this episode of Leading Through Growth, Tony Sanders sits down with Scott Whitaker, Director of Human Resources at Ryan Fire Protection, to explore what it really takes to scale a company without losing its culture. Over the past four years, Ryan has experienced rapid growth—expanding from just under 300 employees to nearly 700. Scott shares what that growth looks like from the inside, and how intentional leadership, shared ownership, and people-first thinking have helped them preserve and...

What got you here won’t get you there. In this conversation, Kevin Gearheart, President of Rehab Medical, reflects on what leadership must become as an organization grows—especially when the instincts that once drove success begin to create friction. Early in a company’s life, control drives performance. But as complexity increases, that same control can turn leaders into bottlenecks. What replaces it is not less leadership—but a different kind: clarity, structure, and trust. Kevin shares how his role has evolved over two decades of leadership and a decade in the president seat—leading through sustained, rapid growth while maintaining culture, talent quality, and operational discipline. This episode explores: The shift from control to clarity—and why it matters How leaders unintentionally become bottlenecks Why culture at scale requires structure, not just intention The role of purpose in sustaining performance under pressure Balancing transparency with confidentiality as a senior lea…