What a GTM Org Audit Taught Me About Moving Fast in Unfamiliar Territory
There’s a special kind of chaos that lives inside a high-growth company — especially when that growth has outpaced the clarity of its structure. I know because I lived it.
A few years back, I led a cross-functional audit of GTM roles, responsibilities, and org structures at a fast-scaling tech company. We were hitting critical mass — big headcount, complex teams, multiple layers of leadership — but the structure hadn't kept pace. Titles meant different things in different departments. Some functions had six layers between the work and the decision-maker; others had none. It wasn’t just messy — it was slowing us down, damaging client relationships, and destroying morale.
What started as a simple exercise in role clarity turned into a full-scale organizational reset. I worked directly with our CRO, VPs across Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Ops, and Product. Each team had its own culture, its own language, and its own (often unspoken) logic behind how things were done. And because I was sitting at the center of the initiative — not inside any one team — I had to earn trust quickly, ask the right questions, and build clarity without slowing anyone down.
That experience permanently shaped how I work with clients today.
🔹 How I Work with Clients, Informed by Experience
When I step into a new organization, I bring the same blend of strategic systems-thinking and boots-on-the-ground pragmatism. I don’t need a three-month onboarding period to “get” your business. I’ve developed a framework for rapidly decoding how a company operates — the structure, the informal power centers, the friction points — so I can make recommendations that are not just accurate, but actionable.
🔷 Key Lessons I Carry Into Every Engagement
1. The org chart is only half the story.
People don’t work in boxes. They work in networks, relationships, and informal systems. One of the biggest lessons from that audit? Real influence doesn’t always follow the lines. That’s why I map out not just roles, but dynamics. Who’s the glue? Where’s the silent bottleneck? Where does decision-making actually live?
2. Clarity creates confidence — but it has to come fast.
When you're in a high-growth environment, ambiguity is a constant — but it shouldn’t be a blocker. I’ve learned to quickly distill and articulate structure, role expectations, and decision rights in a way that leaders can immediately act on. Speed matters, especially when you're scaling.
3. Language is leverage.
One team’s “Program Manager” is another team’s “Strategic Ops Lead.” I’ve learned to identify where inconsistent language is creating confusion or duplication. And I bring a human-centered lens to translating that into consistent, clear definitions — so people know not just what they’re called, but what they’re responsible for.
4. Empathy unlocks alignment.
During that audit, I wasn’t just dealing with frameworks — I was dealing with real people, many of whom felt their work wasn’t understood or valued. That’s why I bring emotional intelligence to every project. Because sustainable change doesn’t happen through spreadsheets. It happens when people feel heard, respected, and included in the process.
🌀 Why This Matters to My Clients
This experience didn’t just give me a toolkit — it gave me a playbook for navigating complexity with speed and precision, even in unfamiliar environments. Today, I help clients:
Uncover the hidden friction in their GTM structures
Align their teams for faster execution
Design orgs that scale — without burning people out
Navigate high-stakes change with clarity and confidence
That audit gave me more than a playbook. It gave me perspective, pattern recognition, and the ability to act as a strategic mirror for executive teams navigating growth. If you’re in the middle of change — or on the edge of needing it — I’d love to talk. Because you don’t have to go it alone. And you don’t have to settle for slow.