How the Friction Of Success Creeps Into Growing Businesses... And What To Do About It
Many of my summer days as a kid were spent in my Papa’s hot, dusty autobody shop. The air was always thick with the sharp tang of motor oil and paint thinner, a smell that clung to my clothes and hair long after I left. I’d watch him hammer out dents, sand away rusted edges, and give old cars new life.
A few years later, I sat quietly in the corner of our garage as my mom rebuilt an entire transmission because we couldn’t afford a new one. Every piece had to be taken out, cleaned or replaced, and carefully put back together before it could work again.
I didn’t realize it then, but those hours watching them work taught me that things we love could be rebuilt into newer, better versions of themselves.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how much that same principle applies to business, especially for female founders who’ve built multi-six- and seven-figure companies. Many have thriving, growing businesses that should be running smoothly, yet behind the success, something feels off.
The systems that once made everything click are now grinding under the weight of growth. The work that used to feel fluid now feels strained and sluggish, a sure sign the business has outgrown its original design. It’s subtle, but they can feel it.
This is the first article in a new series exploring what I call the friction of success… that subtle drag (that eventually becomes major) many high-performing founders feel when growth no longer feels good. We’ll dig into why it happens, what it’s telling you, and how to rebuild your strategy around clarity, conviction, and impact.
The Friction of Success
Does this feel familiar?
Your business is growing. Revenue is steady, and the team is expanding.
On paper, everything looks right, but underneath the hood, there are little squeaks, creaks, and grinding you can’t ignore.
You’re tired. Decisions take longer. The team feels busy but misaligned, and the business that once energized you now feels like it’s running you.
That’s the friction of success.
It’s what happens when your business has outgrown its original strategy, but you haven’t yet rebuilt the structure to match your next level of clarity, capacity, or conviction.
We often mistake it for burnout or a loss of motivation, and to be fair, those can play a part, but more often, it’s what happens when your success outpaces your vision.
The machine is still moving, but the gears are grinding.
A Real-World Example
I’ve seen this kind of friction play out inside successful, mission-driven businesses on the regular.
A while back, I worked with three businesses that were supporting students with disabilities, all run by brilliant, mission-driven women. One had already passed the million-dollar mark, and the other two weren’t too far behind.
On paper, they were thriving. They had all built the businesses they’d originally imagined, their revenue was growing, and they had great teams to support them, but underneath the success, things were more challenging.
Their systems weren’t repeatable and processes weren’t clear. Up until this point, they’d had strong referral-based lead generation, but it was starting to dry up. Their teams, while great, were operating in silos and communication was a struggle.
These owners weren’t burned out, but they were definitely tired of running harder just to maintain momentum.
That’s the friction of success in action. Their companies had outgrown the strategy, systems, and structures that built them, and the only way forward was to recalibrate for the next stage.
Together, we stripped things back to the essentials. We revisited the conviction-driven belief beneath the business, re-aligned their vision, and really dug into the impact they wanted to create. From there, we were able to eliminate the pieces of the business that were no longer aligned, and best of all, tightened up the parts that were. We brought their teams into the process, designed repeatable systems, and expanded their lead generation beyond referrals.
Within months, they weren’t just maintaining growth, they were scaling strategically. The gears were turning smoothly again.
From Friction to Flow
Their story shows that you can’t fix friction by pressing harder on the gas. If they had just kept grinding, maybe they would have gotten there, but the cost would have been high, high, high.
As owners, we have to lift the hood, find where the grinding is coming from, and address the parts that no longer fit.
In business, that means returning to the foundation, and:
reconnecting with the conviction-driven idea at the core of your work and understanding exactly why that matters to you.
rebuilding with clarity by eliminating the misaligned bits and actively choosing the aligned parts of your model. It also means getting your team (including contractors) on board and ensuring that the goals and metrics are aligned with your core conviction and vision.
redefining how you’re showing up in your industry or business ecosystem. It doesn’t have to be everywhere, all the time, but it does require clarity of message and consistency, especially as you’re making strategic messaging shifts.
reintegrating impact into your business operations. When we talk about recalibrating our businesses based on conviction, that almost always implies there’s an impact goal, something that goes beyond revenue. Understanding what that is and how to measure it is critical to aligned growth in the long term… and the ripple effect you’re trying to create in the world.
When conviction, clarity, and structure realign to match the refined vision YOU have, growth feels effortless. It also enables you to make decisions faster and with more confidence because you and the team know exactly what matters most. It also means you attract the right opportunities instead of chasing them.
You Can’t Outrun Friction.
After working with executives, founders, and thought leaders over the last two decades, not to mention time in my Papa’s auto shop, there is one core truth I have learned time and time again…
You can’t outrun friction, but you can recalibrate and rebuild for ease, alignment, and flow.
When your strategy, systems, and conviction work together, the business doesn’t just run better, it actually allows you to make the impact you’re here to make.
If you’re at the place where the friction is getting more frustrating and painful, I invite you to work through the Conviction-Driven Growth Scorecard™. This will show you exactly where the friction is showing up in your business and which part of your strategy is ready for a rebuild.
Next week, in Part 2 of The Friction of Success Series, we’ll dig into what that tension you’re feeling is actually trying to tell you and how to decode the specific signals showing up in your business, so you can move from friction to clarity with confidence.
