Fast Growing Teams, Passive-Aggressive Communication, Managing Disengagement [Office Hours #018]

Your questions. Answered.

👋 Welcome to a 🔒 subscriber-only edition 🔒 of our Office Hours newsletter. Every Tuesday, we tackle reader questions covering the most demanding challenges of management and leadership. (We share our best free content on LinkedIn).

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In this week's edition, we answer:

1. How do you lead a team that’s growing quickly without losing the culture and cohesion you worked so hard to build?

2. How do you deal with a team member who uses passive-aggressive behavior instead of direct communication?

3. How do you help a team become more open to feedback when they seem defensive or disengaged every time it’s given?

Let’s get started…

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Question 1:

Ava from Austin
How do you lead a team that’s growing quickly without losing the culture and cohesion you worked so hard to build?

Response:
Dear Ava,

Fast growth is a thrilling phase—but it can strain the very things that made your team special. The challenge is to evolve your structure and scale your systems while fiercely protecting your core values and team identity. Here’s how to lead through that balancing act.

1. Name and Preserve the Cultural Essentials

Start by clearly identifying what makes your culture unique and valuable. Is it open collaboration? Candid feedback? A bias for action? Write it down, share it, and revisit it as a living guide:

"As we grow, we’re going to face new challenges. But what won’t change is how we treat each other and how we solve problems together—that’s the heart of our culture."

Make your values explicit in onboarding, team rituals, and performance reviews. Culture can't be assumed—it has to be taught and reinforced.