Blog Archives

Successful growth companies have a healthy paranoia about their success. They know that competitive advantage deteriorates over time unless it is constantly cultivated and reinforced. And these companies are seriously concerned with future threats to their continued success. But far too often, once “hot” companies cool off because they are too focused on harvesting their success to notice the world is changing around them.

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I regularly come across companies with the same basic symptoms: A misty image of the future, lack of a common purpose or shared aspirations, resistance to change, overwhelming problems and unrealized opportunities, and a general sense of unease. These are challenges that can only be solved with leadership.

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Leaders of growth aren’t successful without a strong team. And when it comes to managing their teams, they display two contradictory qualities: practicality and idealism. On the one hand, they are extremely practical – intensely aware of the realities of their situation and what is needed to succeed, and relentless in their focus on results. On the other hand, they are idealistic – visionaries who defy the odds to transform their ideas into reality by offering their teams support, motivation, and encouragement.

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It’s ridiculous to believe that growth only comes from a big disruptive idea. Growth happens for most companies when they uncover opportunities that already exist but often are hidden by traditional beliefs about what is promising or possible. The ability to see things differently and as a result do things differently is an essential capability necessary to tap into new sources of revenue growth.

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Hiring is the most critical component in scaling a business. Period. Nothing else comes close. The people you choose to hire will impact every part of your business. It’s talent that fuels innovation, customer loyalty, a great culture, and almost every other influence in an organization. It’s talent that adapts, overcomes obstacles, and creates growth. And yet every day I see leaders haphazardly approach the hiring process.

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You know CEOs who are constantly in the public eye. They spend a great deal of their time attending conferences, giving speeches, appearing on TV, and being interviewed by the business press. They perform flawlessly, with tremendous charisma and poise. They arouse confidence among the public, potential employees, and investors. But among those closest to them, they are a fraud.

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Whatever your level of experience, you can unleash the growth leader within you. That may mean developing a productive relationship with change, reorienting your beliefs about learning, growth, and failure, or developing new ways to think and act as a leader. You can start today, from wherever you are.

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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.

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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.

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As your company grows, it is up to you to provide the leadership, rationale, and impetus for growth and change. You have to help people get comfortable with the idea that changes will be required again and again to meet the requirements of ever-higher levels of growth. The process of growth and change will need to be repeated many times in order for the organization to continue to grow.

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