Your why isn’t their why. But why?

Running and scaling a service business is hard.

When you’re the founder, CEO, or leader, you carry the vision in your head and the fire in your gut. You know why you’re pushing so hard – the growth targets, the bigger picture, the sense of purpose that gets you up every morning.

But here’s the challenge: your why isn’t their why.

For your team, their motivation may look completely different. For some it’s career growth. For others it’s flexibility, learning opportunities, or simply doing meaningful work without burning out. And sometimes, the gap between your why and theirs is the reason momentum stalls.

I’ve seen this play out time and again working alongside leaders and founders. The biggest breakthroughs often come not from refining their why, but from uncovering their team’s why. Once that connection is made, growth becomes less of an uphill battle and more of a shared journey.

Because when you can connect the ambitions of the business to the personal motivations of the people in it, everything changes. Engagement rises. Energy builds. And growth stops feeling like it rests solely on your shoulders.

So if momentum feels stuck, it might be worth asking yourself: do I really know my team’s why?

Your why will always matter. But discovering, honouring, and aligning with theirs? That’s where the real growth happens.