Growth felt unpredictable. The research said otherwise.
The story of a six-year study, the woman who turned it into a framework, and where 7 Stages of Growth is going next.
Where the framework comes from
7 Stages of Growth began with a question most CEOs have asked themselves: why does what worked before suddenly stop working? Six years of research across more than 650 successful companies produced an answer nobody was selling at the time: it isn’t the leader, and it isn’t the market. It’s headcount. Every person added multiplies the connections inside a company, and at specific headcounts, the rules change. Companies at the same headcount face the same challenges, in a predictable order.
That finding became the framework: seven stages, defined by employee count, each with its own challenges, its own Non-Negotiable Rules, and its own demands on the person at the top.
The founder
Research doesn’t help anyone until someone makes it usable. Laurie Taylor did that. She built 7 Stages of Growth into a framework a leadership team could actually work with: the assessments, the facilitation methodology behind the 7SG Business X-Ray, seven stage-specific books, and the training that produced the 7SG Certified Advisors delivering it today. Having taken a company from $250,000 to over $12 million in sales while running a 100+ employee business, Laurie Taylor’s perspective on enterprise growth comes from real-time experience. Committed to helping business owners succeed, she works with leaders to embrace and respect the intelligence that exists within each employee — reducing ‘employee anxiety,’ creating dialogues around key indicators, and getting employees thinking like ‘owners.’ Her work is grounded in the 7 Stages of Growth, a research-based model built on employee count. She remains close to the work as its founding voice and its most demanding reader.
Where it’s going
Today the framework is led by Eric Schultz, who took on stewardship of the 7 Stages of Growth in 2023. His focus: keeping the framework as rigorous as the research that built it, and growing the community of 7SG Certified Advisors who bring it to leadership teams. Having grown multiple businesses and spent thousands of hours advising and coaching leaders, Eric knows firsthand the value of the 7 Stages of Growth as a roadmap for success.
Two convictions behind everything here
Headcount drives complexity.
Not revenue, not years in business. Every person added multiplies internal connections, and at certain headcounts the rules change. That’s what makes the model predictive.
The company and the CEO change together.
Most growth models develop the company. Coaching develops the leader. 7SG is the only framework that develops both on the same clock, because at every stage they change together.