The majority of my work these days tends to be with companies that need support in scaling up. That may be because they’re on a rapid growth path, and need to ensure that the business scales robustly. Or because they’ve plateaued (or started a slow decline), with a myriad of symptoms to boot.
In almost every case, the key has been empowering the right leadership team. Easily said, harder to do – which is why so many companies get stuck there.
There are a number of levers. The leadership team’s capability. The CEO’s willingness to genuinely empower them. The processes to make decisions effectively and the discipline to follow up. Clarity on purpose, direction, values, strategy, roles.
Interesting to read this in the story of Patagonia as told by its founder, Yvon Chouinard, in “Let my people go surfing”.
“I’ve found that whenever we have had a top manager or CEO leave the company […] the work continues as if they were still there. It’s not that they were doing nothing but that the system is pretty much self-regulating.”
Every CEO who is worried about scaling should ask themselves this. Have I enabled a system to take root in my company that self-regulates without my intervention? And on that basis, what is the new value that I can bring to the company?
We're launching a live online programme for CEOs and leadership teams to design and execute a commercial strategy built on purpose and values. We're looking for an intimate beta group of tech and digital consultancy / agency CEOs to join us on this journey. Get in touch to see if there's a good fit for you.