DREIESKIVA​|Roald Kvam

In the life of a company, growth often requires venturing into the unknown. It is much like exploring the Wild West: the land is uncharted, the risks are high, and the promise of new opportunity is compelling. But just as in history, successful expansion is rarely spontaneous—it follows a careful sequence, with different roles and leadership styles shaping the journey.

The Scout: Eyes on the horizon

The first step in entering new territory is reconnaissance. A company sends out the “scout”—someone whose primary role is to observe, assess, and report back. They do not immediately build, sell, or launch. They gather intelligence: market potential, customer needs, competitor behavior, regulatory environment, and cultural nuances.

In this stage, leadership is less about authority and more about curiosity, vigilance, and courage. The scout takes risks, often facing uncertainty and skepticism from colleagues entrenched in the familiar, established markets. Yet, without this early exploration, the company cannot navigate new opportunities effectively.

The Pioneer: Grounding the camp

Once the scout has reported promising findings, the next step is to send in the “pioneer.” This person is responsible for establishing the first foothold—a minimal viable presence that can test assumptions and build credibility. They set up a “camp”: initial operations, prototypes, pilot products, or early partnerships.

Pioneers are builders. They manage ambiguity while creating something tangible. At this stage, mistakes are inevitable, but learning from them is critical. Leadership here involves resilience and strategic foresight: understanding the broader company goals while experimenting on the periphery.

The Settlers: Growing the city

Finally, once the territory has been mapped and the first operations are proven, the settlers arrive. They build infrastructure, scale operations, and integrate the new market into the broader company. The settlers’ work turns the scout’s observations and the pioneer’s foothold into a thriving business unit.

Settlers require strong operational skills and the ability to embed new knowledge into the company’s structures. Their success depends on both the foundation laid by the earlier stages and their capacity to create sustainable growth.

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Center vs. periphery: Leadership perspectives

This journey highlights an important distinction in leadership: the difference between “center leaders” and “periphery leaders.”

• Center Leaders: These are the executives and managers who make the company run reliably year after year. They optimize existing processes, manage core operations, and ensure consistent delivery. Their focus is internal: the known market, the established product lines, and the predictable revenue streams. They are the backbone, maintaining stability while ensuring the company does not falter.
• Periphery Leaders: These leaders operate on the frontier, exploring new markets, experimenting with novel products, or advocating bold strategic shifts. They position themselves at the edge of the company’s knowledge and comfort zones, where risk is high and success is uncertain. At the “Urias post”—the outermost guard post—they often face misunderstanding, skepticism, or even resistance from their colleagues. Yet their work is essential: without exploration, the company stagnates.

The tension between center and periphery is natural. Center leaders value predictability and repeatable success; periphery leaders thrive in uncertainty and possibility. A thriving company requires both. The challenge lies in balancing these roles—supporting innovation at the edges while maintaining stability at the core.

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Lessons for companies exploring new territories

1. Respect the sequence: Just as in exploration history, don’t rush from observation to settlement. Scouting, pioneering, and settling require distinct skills and resources. Each stage informs the next.
2. Protect the periphery: Companies must create safe spaces for periphery leaders to experiment. Failure is likely at the edges, but without it, new markets cannot be conquered.
3. Bridge the divide: Encourage communication between center and periphery. Scouts and pioneers often feel misunderstood; framing their discoveries in ways the center can appreciate ensures alignment and reduces friction.
4. Measure and adapt: Expansion into unknown territory requires flexible metrics. Success is not just immediate revenue—it is knowledge gained, relationships built, and future potential unlocked.
5. Honor both leadership roles: Both center and periphery leaders are vital. Recognize the stability that center leaders provide and the vision that periphery leaders create. Balance allows the company to innovate without losing operational excellence.

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From Wild West to thriving frontier

Entering new markets is a journey, not an event. Scouts, pioneers, and settlers each play a crucial role in transforming uncertainty into opportunity. The center and periphery leaders, though different in approach and mindset, together ensure the company thrives—both in its established markets and in the unknown frontiers.

Companies that understand this dynamic embrace both caution and courage. They equip their scouts to explore, empower their pioneers to experiment, and support their settlers to scale. And in doing so, they turn the “Wild West” of opportunity into sustainable, thriving growth—one deliberate step at a time.