Scaling leadership at every level: strengthening Optimising’s foundation for growth

After fifteen years of steady growth, Optimising, a Melbourne-based SEO agency, was at an inflection point. With a team of 20 and a culture shaped by co-founders James Richardson and Daniel Zuccon, the company recognised that future growth and resilience would depend on its ability to build leadership capacity across all levels.

While the founders had led with intuition and grit, they were looking to establish a more deliberate and scalable leadership culture; one that empowered emerging leaders, stabilised operations, and fostered wellbeing in a growing team. Portable was engaged to co-design a leadership development program that would meet these goals: strengthening leadership behaviours, building confidence, and supporting a new generation of leaders while anchoring senior leaders in the same foundational skills and shared vocabulary.

Portable partnered with Optimising to deliver a tailored leadership development program grounded in collaboration, reflection, and practical application. Recognising the unique needs of both senior and emerging leaders, we designed a dual-stream format: one for the co-founders and senior leaders, and one for the next generation of people leaders.

Monthly sessions with the senior leadership team focused on deepening understanding of core leadership concepts, fostering personal growth, and strengthening alignment across the leadership group. These conversations also ensured the senior team could actively model and reinforce the leadership culture being developed.

In parallel, emerging leaders took part in their own monthly sessions designed to build confidence, clarify their role as people leaders, and provide tools to better support their colleagues. Each session introduced key leadership frameworks—then brought them to life through real-world examples, collaborative reflection, and applied practice.

To bridge theory and reality, participants engaged in scenario-based role plays, shared active leadership challenges, and received in-the-moment feedback to refine their approach. This created a safe, energising space where leadership behaviours could be explored, strengthened, and sustained in daily practice.

The program was met with strong engagement and enthusiasm across leadership streams. Participants found the content immediately applicable, with many citing the relevance of frameworks and scenarios to their everyday work. Over time, both groups demonstrated noticeable growth in confidence and capability - especially evident in how they handled role plays and responded to real-world challenges.

For Optimising, the benefits extended well beyond the sessions themselves. The emerging leaders not only strengthened their leadership behaviours, but many progressed into formal leadership roles, contributing to a more distributed and resilient leadership structure. This growth had a significant positive impact for the leaders themselves, their people and the business more broadly.

Importantly, the improvements in leadership capability translated into greater organisational stability. The success of the engagement led Optimising to continue investing in their leaders through ongoing group coaching, embedding the program’s principles as part of their long-term culture.

"We knew we needed to build a more deliberate leadership culture - something consistent, practical, and scalable. Portable brought the right balance of structure and flexibility. The program helped us lift capability across the board, gave our leaders a shared language, and brought more confidence to the way we lead day to day."

James Richardson, Optimising Co-Founder

"It was so rewarding to see how engaged and committed the Optimising team were to this program and their own growth and development. Their learning was immediate and watching the growth, especially in the emerging leaders, was a real delight."

Kathryn Foster, Portable Head of People and Culture

• Kathryn Foster - Head of People and Culture