FoundtoLead with Terry Walby, CEO & Founder, OpenDialog
with Jane Reddin, Talent Partner
Posted
Enduring companies aren’t just built on great ideas – they’re driven by visionary leaders who inspire, align, and elevate those around them.
At the heart of every high-performing startup is a Founder CEO who inspires, aligns, and elevates their teams toward a shared vision, to deliver growth.
That’s why we’ve based our programme on the The AlbionVC CEO Craft, a performance paradigm designed to help founders master the art and science of being an early stage CEO. From setting a compelling mission to driving profitable growth and building a high performing team, this framework equips leaders with the tools to:
- Foster a performance mindset which builds resilience, adaptability and decisive teamwork
- Communicate a strategic vision that inspires and unites
- Drive pace and executional excellence by leading with clarity
In this conversation, Terry Walby shares with Jane Reddin, Partner AlbionVC, his reflections on leadership, scaling companies, and the personal evolution that comes from being a second-time founder.
Key topics discussed:
On Leadership & Authenticity
Terry attributes his leadership style to clarity of vision and authentic communication. He emphasizes helping each team member understand their role in the collective mission — “the wood behind the arrowhead” — as key to building strong followership.
Preparing to Lead
He begins any communication by asking why — why is this information important, and why should others care? While he values openness, he’s learned the importance of filtering what is appropriate to share as a CEO, especially during challenging times.
Staying Grounded as a Second-Time Founder
Having previously scaled and exited a business, Terry approached OpenDialog differently:
- He deliberately co-founded rather than going solo to avoid isolation.
- He sets boundaries on his time and energy to avoid burnout.
- He prioritizes productivity over overwork through conscious time management and mental space.
Delegation & Focus
With experience, Terry now sticks to his “CEO swim lane”: setting vision, ensuring financial health, hiring the right people (and addressing mis-hires quickly), and enabling others to execute. He avoids micromanagement and focuses on empowering his team.
Learning from Peers
Terry actively engages with the founder community, gaining insights from shared challenges and diverse perspectives. This peer learning has influenced how he builds advisory boards and approaches company-building.
Hard Lessons
One major lesson: scaling too fast. After raising capital, the instinct was to hire quickly, but this led to missteps. He now sees the importance of thoughtful, paced scaling and fast, empathetic decision-making when changes are needed.
Final Reflection
There’s no rulebook to being a CEO. It’s a craft defined by ongoing learning, communication, empathy, and shared ownership of the mission.
