Why Growing Your Team from the Inside Out Works and Where to Begin

The first step to building a stronger company isn’t hiring new talent; it’s investing in the people you already have.

If you ask most business leaders about team development, they’ll talk about technical training, onboarding programs, or maybe occasional performance reviews. But what happens when you flip the script and start with personal growth as the foundation for professional excellence?

That’s the approach MGA has taken internally, and now we’re opening up that playbook to share what we’ve learned. In the first session of our new MGA Academy series, we focused on how to grow teams from the inside out, starting not with job descriptions, but with purpose, communication, and the kinds of skills that unlock real potential.

It’s not a theory. It’s something we’ve practiced at every level of our Firm. And now, we’re making it available for others to learn from too.

Here’s why it works, and why it might be time for your organization to do the same.

▶️ Want to See How MGA Does It?

The Problem: Technical Skills Aren’t the Whole Picture

Technical skills are essential in every industry, from professional services to manufacturing to tech. But they’re not what make someone a great team member, a trusted leader, or a strong culture carrier.

As Adam Barr, Partner at MGA, shared in the session:

"We’re in a people business. Most businesses really are. So if we don’t actively help our team grow in skills like communication, ownership, and critical thinking, we’re holding back their potential. And ours."

Too often, businesses focus only on improving the "what," like better systems, better processes, and better KPIs. But your most valuable asset already walks through your doors every day: your people.

The Shift: Start with the Inner Work

That’s where our Personal Development Program (PDP) came in. It wasn’t about adding more work or checking boxes. It was about:

• Building intentional self-awareness
• Developing stronger communicators and collaborators
• Helping every person connect their work to a deeper sense of purpose

This mindset shift changed how our team operated and how they saw themselves.

Andi Simon, our outside facilitator and a corporate anthropologist, described it like this:

"Culture change happens from behavior, not slogans. When your team starts to see themselves as capable of more, because you’ve created space for that, you unlock real transformation."

A Framework for Getting Started

So what does "growing from the inside out" actually look like? It starts by answering these questions:

1. Why do we care about personal development? (Hint: it's about retention, culture, and long-term growth.)
2. What behaviors are we hoping to strengthen? (Time management? Ownership? Collaboration?)
3. Who needs to go first? (Leaders set the tone. If you’re not growing, neither will your team.)

In the session, we covered strategies for embedding growth into your everyday culture without adding more to everyone’s plate. Because real change doesn’t require perfection, just intention.

The Takeaway

Your team doesn’t need another system. They need support.

They don’t need a new title. They need tools.

And they don’t need constant oversight. They need trust and vision.

Investing in your people before you expect them to perform is the key to long-term success. And it’s easier to start than you might think.

Ready to Grow Your Team From the Inside Out?

This blog just scratched the surface. In our first MGA Academy on-demand session, we cover:

• Why we created our Personal Development Program
• How we built it (and how you can too)
• The results we’ve seen directly from our team members

No fluff. No theory. Just real tools and stories you can learn from and apply.

Have questions? Let’s talk →