Nov. 17, 2025
This piece is sponsored by Sagency.
When businesses have ambitions for growth, the first instinct is to go faster.
At Sagency, a leadership, strategic advisory and executive search firm with a growing Sioux Falls presence, the focus is different.
“Our question is usually, how do we grow while also getting stronger?” said Mike Meagher, Sagency’s founder and CEO.
“Fast growth feels exciting. But if you don’t build the foundation to support it, speed eventually creates cracks from stress. Healthy growth focuses on elements that sustain momentum and success, including clarity, alignment, effective leaders and capable people.”
When growth outpaces capacity
Many Sioux Falls companies are growing, and that growth brings both energy and strain.
Revenue climbs. Teams get busier. Expectations rise.
Before long, the pace that once inspired people can start to wear them down.
“It’s one of the most common things we see,” said Jon McTaggart, senior adviser at Sagency. “When the work accelerates faster than the systems or the relationships can support, cracks start to show. Good people feel stretched. Communication starts to slip. You can almost feel the organization breathing too fast.”
McTaggart said the solution isn’t usually more urgency, rather it’s more alignment and purpose.
“Leaders can lose sight of why they’re growing and who they’re building with,” McTaggart said. “The goal is to do more than keep moving. It’s about moving in the right direction, together. Healthy growth takes shared purpose, alignment and the follow-through to match both.”
He added that most leaders already sense when things are off.
“They just need space to step back and name it,” he said. “Once that happens, the conversation changes. People stop reacting and start leading again. That’s when growth becomes healthier.”
Voices from the field
One Midwest executive who has worked with Sagency said the mindset has been transformative.
The Arthur Companies is a family-owned and -operated business rooted in North Dakota since 1906. Today, it is a diverse, growing organization that invests in and builds businesses across the agricultural value chain — from grain and agronomy to trading, logistics, research and beyond.
The multigenerational business has expanded significantly over the past five years through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. CEO James Burgum sees the value in balancing drive with discipline.
“In agriculture, speed and scale are central to our business,” Burgum said.
“However, growth has to stay connected to our values. Our capabilities must not only keep pace with but drive our growth. Working with Sagency on strategy and leadership development helped us align on our future and develop the leaders who could sustain it. The more we focused on clarity and capability, the better we performed, and the more confident our people became.”
What healthy growth looks like
Healthy growth doesn’t always feel exhilarating. Sometimes, it feels like patience.
“It’s when leaders start paying as much attention to clarity, alignment and culture as they do to the numbers,” Meagher said. “That’s when the organization becomes resilient.”
Jackie Payne, director of leadership and talent development in Sagency’s Sioux Falls office, sees that balance in the business community. “Sioux Falls has a great mix of ambition and humility,” she said.
“We work with leaders across all sectors who want to do things the right way. They are entrepreneurial, driven, and they care about taking care of their people, growing intentionally and creating stability that lasts. It’s a big part of what makes this community so strong.”
Why it matters
Healthy growth isn’t just good for business — it’s good for employees and the community.
“When organizations grow the right way, they create opportunity that lasts,” Payne said. “They develop leaders who can think long term and care about the ripple effects of their decisions.”
Meagher agrees.
“The best leaders we work with understand that growth is more than hitting a revenue target next year,” he said. “It’s about building capacity that serves both the business and the people in it. That’s what creates a lasting impact.”
For Sagency, the outcome of healthy growth is simple: Help leaders and teams grow in ways that endure.
“It’s hard work,” Meagher said, “but it’s good work. It’s the kind that lasts.”
About Sagency
Sagency partners with midsized companies, ESOPs, family businesses and enterprise nonprofits. The firm works with leadership teams to align strategy, strengthen leadership and create the clarity and momentum needed to grow the right way. They call this healthy growth. Learn more at sagencytalent.com.
