3 Silent Business Growth Killers
There’s an inescapable truth I’ve found over twenty years of working with fast-growth companies: Instead of bringing out the hidden strengths of a business,success tends to bring out the hidden weaknesses. Read More

Mark Otto is a business consultant, author. and speaker. He draws on a lifetime of experience with the organizational strategic, and leadership challenges of growing companies to offer
practical and effective advice for improving leadership skils and business performance. Learn More

There’s an inescapable truth I’ve found over twenty years of working with fast-growth companies: Instead of bringing out the hidden strengths of a business,success tends to bring out the hidden weaknesses. Read More
The biggest distinguishing factor between success and failure is almost always the senior management team. A high-performing team, with broadly differing viewpoints and perspectives, determines how far a business goes – more than the idea, more than the timing, and even more than the resources of the company. Read More
What separates the also-rans struggling to achieve growth from the masters – those companies and leaders who manage to achieve long-term sustainable growth? What are the practices that can make the difference between merely surviving and achieving extraordinary growth?. Read More
As companies grow and get bigger, most leaders struggle with the need to add structure and process to the business. They become very concerned about “over managing” the organization and creating a bureaucracy. Because most of us know the horrors of working in a rigid and arthritic organization, there is a natural fear of systems, structure, and process. Read More
Without proper planning you may find your growth creating an avalanche that buries you in unforeseen problems. Several times a year, there are stories about companies that got themselves into trouble because they “grew too fast.” In hindsight, the insiders in these companies describe the situation using expressions like “out of control” or “total chaos.” Read More
Effective decision making is essential to a successful business. Every day we are called upon to make decisions. Some are small and have little impact. Others carry a greater weight – decisions with important consequences. Invariably, mistakes are made along the way. The difficult truth is that very important decisions made by smart people sometimes go very wrong. Read More
A mindset is our perspective on the world and outlook on life. The choices we make reflect our mindset. Some people see new challenges as opportunities to learn, and for others, they are an opportunity to fail. Read More
It’s not easy to hear about our weaknesses. And telling others how they can improve is almost as difficult. Giving feedback can be awkward, messy, and uncomfortable. Feedback can raise defensiveness, fear, and anxiety. And when done badly, it can be emotionally devastating. Read More
Great leaders have a mindset of continual improvement, which is fundamental to business growth. Why? Because constant improvement requires consistently challenging the way you do things – no matter how successful you are. This “get better” mentality is the driving force behind great leaders. Read More
In an earlier post I briefly touched on the importance of meetings in growing companies. I realize that meetings are a hot button in most organizations. But I want to provide you with the antidote to those unproductive wastes of time that we’ve all had to suffer through. Read More
