GROWTH….friend or foe?

In our continuing series on Business Growth, Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, talks from the heart about the impact of Growth on an organization…..the good, the bad, and the ugly! Enjoy this week’s Power Idea.

After almost 45 years in the business world, it has occurred to me that all of us chase the same thing. We think that bigger is better….but is it? I don’t know about you, but I sometimes lament for the days when my company was essentially a solopreneur organization. When I didn’t have to be in internal meetings, settling disputes between team members, soothing bruised egos, and making sure there was enough cash to meet the payrolls each period…..ahhhh, for the good old days (NOT!).

Comes with growth, wonderful opportunities, interesting challenges, and often problems that are created directly related to growing. This is especially true if you are fortunate to be growing at a very rapid pace. Sometimes we become overwhelmed by our own success. So what does a business leader do about all of these new challenges?

1. Take the time to evaluate where you are at (I’m not going to steal my Partner, Diane’s thunder, because I know she is going to talk about our formal process called Stages of Growth). It is critically important to think through the growth, to strategize what is most important, and to prioritize the goals of the organization, before things get too out of control. We can get away with some chaos when we are very small, but not when we start to grow and mature.

2. Be sure you have the right people on the bus and in the right seats. In other words, how are you attracting the right talent, and how are you utilizing their skills in executing the plan in your organization. It’s time to stop hiring your brother-in-law’s- sister’s-cousin’s-husband…UNLESS they are the right person for the position. A position you have vetted and are confident you understand from a standpoint of the correct (and verified) skills, experience and education, and the candidates attitudinal job match in behaviors, motivators and personal skills.

3. That your organization has considered it’s structure and available resources to support the team you have put in place, including organizational hierarchy, strategic plan, communications systems, continuous team development plans, human resource support systems and compensation strategies.

It is very important that you carefully think through all of these structures, in anticipation of the growth you are experiences or contemplating in the future. Not to do this will take a very good thing called growth and make it an obstacle to sustainable success in the longer term.

Have a Great Week!