A CEO is Like a Goldfish Bowl: Why Business Growth (or Stagnation) Starts and Ends with Leadership

Success doesn't guarantee growth, great leadership does.

In my years working with businesses, one of the most common issue I hear from established leaders is: “We need to change something, switch something up. We’ve hit a plateau and we’re not sure what to do next.”

Generally, these businesses have achieved a relatively substantial success—a $10 million company, maybe $20 million. They’ve built something strong and steady but have stalled and are starting to decline.

While their competitors are racing ahead, they're stagnating, and the CEO or business owner begins to feel the pressure. They see their competition all over the places they used to be and in the hands of the newer generations of customers.

“If we don’t do something now, we’re going to fall behind. We need to act quickly!”

It’s the natural reaction. They’ve had success before, they’re proud, and even a little cocky.

And it's where things start to come undone. Get messy. Go downhill.

Success Doesn’t Guarantee Growth

Many of these leaders are comfortable.

They’re confident in the formula that brought them their initial success.

But they're not introspective about the fact that their personal formula worked in a very specific time, place, and market.

Or that the world doesn’t stop evolving just because your business hit its stride.

Technological advancements, changing consumer behavior, and the digital-first landscape are moving faster than ever.

So the simple truth is many of these CEOs find themselves stuck, clinging to the old ways:

• Outdated internal systems frustrate employees, clients and customers and slow productivity.
• Weak digital presence alienates younger consumers who expect seamless online interactions.
• Aging workflows demotivate staff, who see more modern opportunities elsewhere.

Instead of adapting, they focus on squeezing more out of the same people and processes that got them this far.

But that’s not how growth works.

That's how you crush a once-successful enterprise under the weight of your own ego.

Blame Game: When Leadership Avoids Accountability

Here’s the critical moment: the CEO hires consultants, IT specialists, or digital business experts. They think they want help modernizing but really only actually only half believe it’s necessary.

In their hearts, they’re still convinced the problem lies outside their leadership and with anything but them:

• “If only the sales team worked harder...”
• “If only my staff weren’t so lazy...”
• “If we had the right hires or better consultants, we’d be fine.”
• "It's just market conditions"

But the truth is often simpler—and harder for business owners to hear or internalize: their  business can never grow bigger than its leader's vision and leadership abilities, so if it's suck, it's a top-down issue.

When a CEO blames external factors or their team for stagnation, they miss the obvious: A business reflects its leadership, just as a goldfish’s growth is determined by the size of its tank.

A small, limiting vessel stunts growth, no matter how much potential the fish—or business—might have.

What type of leader are you? Look at your staff if you want to know that answer.

The Impact of Leadership on Team Morale

In these stagnant (or more bluntly), down-turning companies, staff morale often follows the same trajectory:



• Demotivation: Employees see no rewards for extra effort. Salaries stagnate, workflows remain inefficient, and the future feels bleak.
• High turnover: The most talented employees leave for opportunities where their skills are valued and their contributions recognized.
• Blame culture: Those who remain feel unsupported and unmotivated, as leadership focuses on assigning blame rather than providing vision or growth.

Loyalty erodes, productivity plummets, and the down cycle continues.

And yet, the CEO sees the symptoms—poor performance, turnover, and missed targets—but not the cause because introspection require one to put aside ego, something only the best leaders can do.

Why the Business is Stuck in a Rut

When I evaluate a business’s health, one of the first things I look for is simple:

1. Is there trash outside or in the lobby? The state of the physical space reflects the care and pride in the organization; if nobody cares, you’re on the way out. (more about this in a later article)
2. When I ask the CEO why growth has stalled, what’s their answer? If their response is anything other than, “Me. I’m responsible,” it’s clear that the problem lies in their unwillingness to take accountability.

Leaders who avoid responsibility perpetuate a vicious cycle of stagnation.

If the CEO can’t grow, the business can’t grow.

The Harsh Reality of Business

If your business is failing, if your team feels stuck, and if your best people thrive only after leaving your company, the common denominator is clear: it’s you.

You’re the small goldfish bowl that’s keeping everything else inside you small.

Your inability to see the need to adapt, expand, or delegate and trust in skill professionals is crushing the potential of your business.

And before you pay tens to hundreds of thousands to millions in consulting and development or marketing fees only to ignore expert advice and do things exactly as you always have, learn this about yourself and save yourself the expense.

Growth demands change.

Sometimes that means modernizing your processes, hiring better / more people or teams, and stepping back and letting them thrive without micromanagement.

Sometimes it means actually learning and implementing new processes and arming them with the staffing and investments required to allow them to succeed.

Sometimes it means embracing the uncomfortable truth: the formula that brought you your first success isn’t going to work for you forever.

Often it's all three.

What Great CEOs Understand

The best leaders recognize that growth starts with them.

They know that to maintain a healthy business they need to:

1. Be flexible and open to change. Success isn’t a static achievement—it’s an ongoing process that requires adaptation. If you aren’t invested in change, shut the business down; growing bitter, blaming employees and living in the past isn’t healthy.
2. Empower their teams. Motivated, well-trained employees who feel valued are the backbone of any thriving company, same goes for any business relationship, customers and clients as well.
3. Take accountability. Growth begins when you stop blaming external factors and start looking inward. Confidence is healthy, check your ego at the door.

If your business is stagnating or losing ground, take a moment to reflect: are you creating the space for growth, or are you the fishbowl that’s holding everyone back?

If you’re going through the motions of hiring us, consultants, or new talented staff and then ignoring everything because you think you know better, your business wouldn’t be stuck where it is losing market share, you absolute walnut.

The choice is yours—and the future of your business depends on it, choose wisely.