Leadership Development for Growing Companies
Most leadership development teaches leadership in the abstract. The problem is that no one leads in the abstract. Your people lead a specific company, at a specific stage, under specific pressures. Development that works meets them there.
I’m David Dressler. Scaling Tender Greens to 1,200 people and $100 million meant one thing above all: building enough leaders, fast enough, that growth didn’t outrun the bench. That’s the work I do now with growing companies, developing the managers, executives, and leadership teams the next stage will demand.
Why Most Leadership Development Doesn't Stick.
Plenty of programs are well designed and change nothing. People leave energized, walk back into the same pressures, and within a month the material is a binder on a shelf. Development sticks when it’s tied to live decisions and real stakes, so a leader is working through situations they’re actually facing, not case studies about someone else’s company.
Building the Bench.
Growth exposes the gap between the leaders you have and the leaders you need. What this looks like: a strong operator promoted to manager who’s still doing the work instead of leading it, or a rising executive with more scope than experience. I develop leaders through those shifts individually and in small groups, starting from where each person actually is.
The same applies when a company is going through significant change. A new strategy, restructuring, rapid growth, or an AI implementation can ask people to lead differently before they’ve had the chance to develop the skills or confidence to do it. Development has to account for that reality: not just what leaders need to know, but how they respond when the ground underneath the team is changing.
Developing the Leadership Team.
A team can be full of strong people and still function poorly together. It shows up as slow decisions, quiet misalignment, and energy lost to friction no one names. Team engagements work on how the group operates: how decisions get made, how disagreement gets handled, and how honestly people talk when it counts.
Sometimes the work is also about helping a leadership team move through a transition: stepping into a new phase of the company, taking on greater responsibility, or adapting to a significant organizational shift. The goal isn’t simply to get through the change. It’s to build the leadership capacity the next stage requires.
How Engagements Work.
This is a custom engagement, not a course: typically an assessment of where the bench actually is, off-sites and intensive sessions with the team, ongoing coaching for key individuals, and advisory support as things unfold.
When the organization is going through a larger change, I can also work alongside the leadership team, and where relevant an implementation partner, to address the human side of the transition: what the change is asking of people, where resistance is coming from, and what leaders need to do differently.
No modules, no completion certificates, no long-term contracts. The work continues because it’s producing something.
If growth is outpacing your bench, let’s talk.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Do you offer leadership development programs or one-on-one work?
Both, though neither is off the shelf. Individual development is ongoing one-on-one work; team development is a custom engagement built from assessments, off-sites, and intensive sessions. In every case the content comes from your company’s real situation, not a fixed curriculum.
Can you develop our whole leadership team, not just individuals?
Yes, and it’s often where I start. A team of capable individuals can still decide slowly and align poorly. Team engagements work on how the group operates together, which matters more the faster you’re growing.
What makes this different from a leadership training company?
A training company delivers a curriculum. I’ve built and exited a 1,200-person business, and I tie development to the decisions your leaders are actually facing. I’m not just a leadership development consultant; I’m an operator.
How long does a team engagement usually take?
It depends on what’s stuck. Some engagements are a focused few months around an off-site and follow-through; others run alongside a growth phase. There’s no fixed term either way, because there’s no long-term contract to fill.
Do you work with companies outside Los Angeles?
Yes. Off-sites and intensives happen wherever your team is, and ongoing work runs in person or online. I provide leadership coaching online for distributed teams.