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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
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Category Archives: Company Building

5 Business Growth Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

01.15.2014 | Categories:

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Early in my career, I assumed that all business growth was good; I assumed bigger was always better. After a $1 billion bankruptcy, it’s safe to say that I was wrong. Looking back, I can see that we stumbled and fell over the same fundamental issues that I see growing companies tripping over today.

How to Identify High-Potential Employees

By Mark Otto

01.10.2014 | Categories:

Company Building

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2 responses

Do you have the leadership and managerial talent needed to grow your business? Developing your high-potential employees helps meet one of the biggest challenges of rapidly growing organizations: the ongoing need for leadership talent.

Is Your Business Built to Grow?

By Mark Otto

01.08.2014 | Categories:

Company Building

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Much of what we believe about what it takes to scale a successful company and keep it growing is just plain wrong. Despite all the conventional wisdom about the greatness of America’s entrepreneurial culture, the fact is most companies start small and stay that way.

10 Mistakes That Derail Growing Companies

By Mark Otto

01.03.2014 | Categories:

Company Building

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Of course there’s no alarm that’s going to go off to warn of an impending business disaster. But there are many clues. As the leader of a growing business, you need to be on the lookout for these clues because these common mistakes are critical signals that foreshadow catastrophe.

7 Keys to Overcoming Stagnant Growth

By Mark Otto

12.04.2013 | Categories:

Company Building

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Growth companies often slow down because they are too focused on harvesting their success to launch new growth initiatives. Complacency creeps in. They still seem to be doing well, but as the current business slows – as it always does – they aren’t prepared to replace it. The best they can hope for, unless something changes, is to stay flat.

Entrepreneurs Are Needed Everywhere

By Mark Otto

12.02.2013 | Categories:

Company Building

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Entrepreneurship is not the exclusive domain of venture-backed start-ups. And you don’t need to own a business to be an entrepreneur. What makes you an entrepreneur is the context in which you operate. Entrepreneurship is needed to create something new in an environment of uncertainty. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, or the size of the company. This view of entrepreneurship applies to anyone creating innovation anywhere.

7 Rules for Hiring Experts

By Mark Otto

11.25.2013 | Categories:

Company Building

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Perhaps you’ve grown your business without the advice of others, but your business most certainly will not reach its full potential if you continue to do so. All successful CEOs and entrepreneurs can benefit from the expertise of outsiders. But we’ve all heard the jokes and horror stories that plague the professional services industry. And I know all too well the damage that can result from failed engagements with outside experts.

The Critical Role of Delegation in Fast-Growth Companies

By Mark Otto

11.18.2013 | Categories:

Company Building

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“I don’t delegate because it’s easier just do it myself.” Or “No one can do this as well as I can.” Sound familiar? We’ve all said it. But this thinking is flawed. Delegating does take time and effort. And maybe you can do it faster or better. But there’s only one of you, and you don’t scale.

3 Silent Business Growth Killers

By Mark Otto

11.11.2013 | Categories:

Company Building

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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.

Building a Fast-Growth Management Team

By Mark Otto

11.06.2013 | Categories:

Company Building, Leadership

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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.

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Category Archives: Company Building