Are you trying to steer a growing ship with the same tiny rudder?

Every organization talks about growth. More volume. Better margins. Leaner operations. But there’s a question we rarely ask: Is our infrastructure actually built to support the success we’re chasing?

This month, let’s look at structure through the lens of one of the oldest tools in navigation — the rudder.

The Smallest Piece That Determines the Direction

Think of a ship gliding through open water. To change course, it doesn’t need new sails, a bigger engine, or more deckhands. It needs the rudder — a surprisingly small piece of equipment that often represents less than 5% of the ship’s hull.

Yet without that little slab of metal, the entire vessel becomes unsteerable.

This is a powerful analogy for our work teams.
Most organizations have a large “ship” — frontline staff powering daily operations — and a relatively small “rudder” — the leadership team tasked with helping the organization set direction and pivot when needed.

The size of the rudder doesn’t need to match the size of the ship, but it does need to be proportionate for safe navigation. And this is where many organizations quietly drift into trouble.

When Growth Outpaces Leadership Infrastructure

Leaders often prioritize goals like expanding services, improving revenue, or minimizing fixed expenses. Those are important — but when they overshadow investments in leadership capacity, organizations unintentionally shrink the rudder while the ship keeps getting bigger.

The result?

• Teams feel unsupported.

• Strategy becomes harder to execute.

• Course corrections take longer — or never happen.

• Long-term sustainability is sacrificed for short-term wins.

It’s not that organizations don’t care about leadership infrastructure. It’s that its importance is often invisible until it’s too small to function.

Responsible Growth Requires a Proportionate Rudder

If the rudder isn’t large enough, the ship won’t turn. The same is true in organizational life:
Without adequate leadership, direction becomes difficult — and changing direction becomes nearly impossible.

Responsible growth means ensuring your team’s support structure increases in step with expectations. This isn’t overhead; it’s survivability. The goal isn’t just to get bigger — it’s to stay steerable.

Takeaways for Leaders

• Assess your rudder: Does your leadership structure actually match the size and complexity of your team?

• Grow infrastructure alongside volume: Expansion without proportionate leadership is a risk, not a strategy.

• Protect long-term sustainability: Don’t trade future stability for today’s numbers.

• Measure leadership load: When leaders are stretched thin, the ship is already drifting.

Having the right-sized rudder is only step one. Next month, we’ll explore how to ensure that rudder is pointed in the right direction — and why alignment matters as much as capacity.