Helping leaders and founders stay Growth Ready through truth-first awareness and flexible, heart-centered standards

Most people say they want growth.

What they often want is growth without discomfort. Growth without hard conversations. Growth without accountability. Growth without the moment where they realize: they might be the bottleneck.

In this episode of GrowthReady, Steve Mellor sits down with Betsy Cerulo, a business owner and leader who’s built her organization for 36 years and the conversation quickly lands on a definition that cuts through the noise:

Being growth ready means being aware and being flexible.

Not “busy.”
Not “motivated.”
Not “positive.”

Aware. Flexible.

Because things are changing constantly, and leaders don’t get to cling to yesterday’s certainty. They have to pivot and keep moving.

Awareness starts with one brutal habit: telling the truth

Betsy doesn’t sugarcoat it. When Steve asks how she practices awareness, she answers with a standard that most people avoid:

It’s telling the truth and facing the truth.

She’s seen how easy it is especially in leadership climates to ignore what’s real because it’s more comfortable in the short term. But avoiding reality doesn’t remove the problem. It only makes it heavier when it finally lands.

Steve reinforces the tension with a powerful image: if there were a door labeled “Truth Only Allowed”, not many people would walk through it. That door demands ownership, humility, and change, three things the ego fights hard to avoid.

Growth-ready leaders do the inner work—because leadership is performance

Betsy credits her ability to lead with more awareness to consistent inner work: therapy, executive coaching, and strategy support.

Then she frames leadership the way high performers understand it: as practice.

She compares it to athletics, where improvement requires reps, feedback, pain tolerance, and the willingness to adjust daily. The “greats” didn’t become great by doing nothing. And leadership is no different.

If someone wants a different outcome, repeating the same behaviors won’t get them there. Growth demands modification.

Heart-centered doesn’t mean comfortable

One of the most important leadership distinctions in the episode is Betsy’s explanation of a heart-centered culture.

She’s clear: heart-centered doesn’t mean hand-holding or avoiding conflict. It means telling the truth compassionately, sticking to facts, and keeping bias out of feedback.

When someone pushes back with “That’s not heart-centered,” Betsy essentially holds the line:

It isn’t unkind just because someone doesn’t like what they’re hearing.

That’s a maturity marker. And it’s also a performance standard.

Flexibility is what happens after the truth lands

Awareness alone isn’t enough. The second half of being “growth ready” is what a leader does next.

Betsy explains that when people are confronted with a hard truth, they often defend themselves, take shots, or try to rewrite what happened. Her approach is calm, factual, and clean: timelines, emails, expectations, procedures, no emotional wrestling match.

And if someone refuses accountability no matter how clear the evidence is?

That’s where the loop closes. The leader moves forward.

Betsy drops a line that every high-performing leader needs burned into their decision-making:

People don’t get to change the rules when the rules haven’t changed.

When the world is uncertain, people aren’t asking for answers—they’re asking for safety

Because Betsy operates in government contracting, uncertainty is baked into her environment—especially around things like budgets and shutdown threats. People want certainty she cannot give.

So her leadership focus becomes safety through honesty:

• she shares what she knows (and what she doesn’t)

• she acknowledges frustration

• she validates fear without faking reassurance

Steve names what’s really going on: uncertainty triggers the human experience of not feeling safe.

Great leaders don’t pretend everything is fine. They don’t manufacture certainty. They keep people grounded in truth and move the ship forward one day at a time.

The long game wins: build from reserves, not reinventions

A major arc in the conversation is Betsy’s decision to expand into a new venture connected to accessibility: partnering with GoodMaps, an indoor GPS-style mobile app that helps people navigate buildings more independently, particularly those who are blind.

This wasn’t a trendy pivot. Betsy frames it as a complement to the accessibility staffing work her organization already does.

Then she shares a mindset that separates mature operators from frantic starters:

When adversity hits, many people throw everything out and start over.

Betsy’s approach is different:

Build from reserves.

Reserves look like:

• trust built over years

• credibility with customers

• strong references and past performance

• relationships that open doors when it matters

That’s why her customers are more likely to consider something new from her—because the trust is already earned.

Intentional networking: stop “working the room” and start winning the room

Betsy also shares something practical and surprisingly relatable: she’s introverted and doesn’t love networking events.

So she doesn’t “work the room.” She prepares.

She researches who will be there, builds a top-10 target list (with backup lists), and pursues meaningful conversations that lead somewhere, even if not directly to the sale.

She even gamifies the discomfort: hit a conversation quota, then reward herself with a chai latte.

That’s coaching-level thinking: not relying on mood—building a system.

Growth becomes legacy: being the wind beneath other people’s wings

When Steve asks what growth looks like now, Betsy’s answer signals a leader in her legacy era.

She wants to pour wisdom into her team, help others rise, and “pass the torch.”

She also shares she’s working on another children’s book, weaving leadership lessons into stories so kids can become stronger and more equipped for a tough world.

That’s what “growth ready” evolves into:

Not just growth for the leader.

Growth through the leader.

Want to turn these lessons into results? Here are two next steps.

👉 Book a coaching session with Steve Mellor
If a leader is serious about high performance and personal growth, they shouldn’t just “save this post.”
Message Steve Mellor right now with the words: “GROWTHREADY” to ask about coaching options and take the first step.

🎧 Listen to the full podcast episode for the deeper nuance
The episode has the stories, the context, and the full depth of the conversation with Betsy Cerulo.