When companies take off like a rocket, how can founders steer the ship?

Fast growth is exhilarating. It is also unforgiving.

Especially in AI, many companies are seeing hyper-growth, changing the leadership job faster than many founder-CEOs expected. What once required deep personal involvement suddenly demands scale and breadth. The question for leadership is how to adapt without losing the mission, or the magic, that made the company take off in the first place.

Having worked closely with founder and non-founder CEOs at every stage, I see the...