Why execution is stalling—and who’s really responsible
A client recently described a situation that I’ve heard dozens of times before. A team that kept missing deadlines, bumping into each other, and generally feeling stuck.
The owner leaned back and said:
“We’ve asked HR to step in.”
I asked, “How’s that going?”
He paused.
“Well… I don’t know. Honestly, we don’t really have HR. It’s just part of what our payroll company provides.”
Exactly.
The Myth at the Heart of the Matter
In companies between 50 and 150 employees, I see this all the time:
- At 50–75 employees: HR doesn’t really exist. Maybe you’ve got someone running admin. Maybe you’ve outsourced to a payroll provider. Either way, you’ve got no one to actually own people performance, team alignment, or execution clarity.
- At 75–150 employees: You’ve likely hired one or two HR professionals. And they’re trying but they’re swamped. Their focus is benefits, onboarding, compliance, employee issues. Not operational decision-making. Not execution velocity. Not leadership development.
And yet in every version of this setup, one dangerous assumption shows up:
“HR will handle it.”
But Here’s the Truth:
Most of what’s broken isn’t HR’s to fix.
It’s your operating system.
The people on your team aren’t failing because your HR person isn’t doing enough.
They’re failing because the system they’re in is unclear, reactive, or owner-dependent.
The real issue?
Somewhere along the way, you—the business owner or operator—stepped out of the driver’s seat, and handed execution off.
To HR.
To a vendor.
Or to no one.
Who Owns Execution?
This isn’t about blaming HR.
This is about reclaiming what’s yours.
When people issues, performance gaps, or team friction show up, what system catches that?
What structure defines expectations?
Who holds the line?
If your answer is HR—or worse, if it’s no one—then you don’t have a people problem.
You have an operational leadership vacuum.
That’s where People OS comes in. But we’ll talk about that soon.
For Now, Ask Yourself This:
- Where have I unknowingly outsourced leadership?
- What issues are I hoping HR (or someone else) will just… fix?
- What parts of my business are stalling because no one truly owns execution?
IIf these questions hit close to home, it’s probably because you’ve outgrown the way things used to work.
Let’s talk about what it might look like to reclaim the levers of your business, without putting everything back on your shoulders.
Send me a note.
Or let’s grab 30 minutes to brainstorm your business.
