SKX at BRAZEN: The hidden risk in scaling - Leadership

The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority is bringing together founders, investors and business leaders for a Scale-up Knowledge Exchange (SKX) roundtable on one of the most overlooked challenges facing high-growth companies: leadership.

Every fast-growth company reaches a point where the leadership approach that fuelled early success is no longer enough on its own. As businesses grow, complexity increases, expectations change, and leaders must evolve alongside the organisations they have built.

Getting that transition right can unlock growth. Getting it wrong can impact culture, talent retention, performance and investor confidence.

This session is for leaders who want to understand pressure points before they become breaking points - whether you're a founder determined to stay at the helm, considering stepping aside, or a senior people leader managing teams through change.

Expect candid insights from:

• founders who’ve reinvented their leadership, and the coaches that guided them
• founders who chose to step back, or were asked to 
• senior people leaders who’ve protected culture through periods of rapid growth 
• drop‑in CEOs scaling at speed
• investors who’ve seen the fallout

We'll explore the realities often missing from scale-up success stories: culture drift, talent loss, founder identity, investor expectations and the operational strain that emerges as organisations grow.

If you're questioning whether you can, or should, lead your company through its next stage of growth, or want to better understand the human side of scaling, this session will provide practical insight, honest discussion and a network of peers facing similar challenges.

WHAT IS SKX?

The Scale-up Knowledge Exchange (SKX) is a series of roundtable discussions exploring the opportunities and challenges facing ambitious, high-growth businesses.

Bringing together founders, business leaders, investors and experts from across the region, SKX creates a space for open conversation on the issues that matter most to scaling companies. Topics have included funding and finance, talent and skills, infrastructure, access to markets and leadership.

Facilitated by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, SKX is part of a wider commitment to strengthening the region's scale-up community and supporting businesses with the ambition and potential to grow.