187: What Smart CEOs Get Wrong About Scaling | Adam Strong

Growing a business is more than just adding fuel to the fire—true scale demands clarity, courage, and a change in mindset. 

In this high-impact episode, host Damon Lembi welcomes Adam Strong, renowned business strategist, bestselling author, and host of The Business Strategist Podcast. Together, they dive deep into the pitfalls that keep founders and CEOs stuck, from confusing growth with true scaling, to fear, ego, and personal identity issues that prevent successful exits. Adam unpacks the must-have strategies for reclaiming your time, building scalable systems, and ensuring you're not the bottleneck in your own company. Loaded with actionable frameworks, mindset shifts, and real-life stories—including how personal branding creates demand and why having too much revenue tied to one customer is a recipe for sleepless nights—this is an episode every ambitious leader should hear. 

In this episode, you’ll learn: 

• The critical difference between growth and scale—and why mistaking one for the other stalls most founders 
• Why personal identity, fear, and ego block even top CEOs from scaling and exiting their businesses 
• Adam’s 3-stage exit plan every business owner needs to understand (and when to start the process) 
• How to identify and fix the stress points that are bottlenecking your organization’s growth 
• The essential categories Adam benchmarks to accelerate professional services out of stagnation 
• Why building (and consistently posting) a personal brand leads to real business opportunities—even if you don’t see instant feedback 
• How to use product ecosystems and capacity planning to protect profits and prepare for scale 

Timestamps: 

00:00 – Growth vs. scale: why sprinting endlessly leads to burnout 

01:06 – Why clarity is the “north star” of sustainable business 

02:51 – From micromanagement to fear: common founder mistakes 

04:29 – The emotional journey of exiting your business 

07:19 – Identity and ego: The real reasons founders struggle to let go 

09:45 – Limiting beliefs and the fixed mindset trap 

11:25 – How Adam challenges leaders (without giving easy answers) 

13:29 – Fear-based decision making and resistance to change 

15:05 – The hidden power of personal branding and social content 

16:57 – Case study: how personal branding landed a new client 

19:38 – The first step for stuck professional services leaders 

21:06 – Adam’s 5-part business framework for diagnosing bottlenecks 

23:25 – Why great technical skills don’t guarantee business growth 

24:11 – What McDonald’s teaches about product vs. process 

25:49 – How to successfully step back as a founder 

28:55 – The dangers of founder interference—stepping back for real scale 

30:52 – Growing from $3M to $4M: the scale, not just staff, solution 

32:42 – Assessing efficiency and maximizing profitability 

35:42 – Is A.I. a threat or tool in professional services? 

38:56 – How niche and capacity planning lead to premium positioning 

42:45 – Red flags: when too much revenue comes from one client 

45:04 – Building a product ecosystem to increase resilience and value 

50:25 – Creating demand and the power of waitlists 

51:27 – Positioning your firm as premium (not commodity) 

53:04 – Adam’s final takeaway: Don’t leave your exit too late 

54:45 – How to join Adam's founder community and connect 

 

About Adam Strong 

Adam Strong is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, international speaker, and widely recognized business strategist. Drawing on decades of experience, Adam...