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The Core DNA of a Growth Leader

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“A leader’s job is to look into the future and see the organization, not as it is, but as it should be.”

– Jack Welch

In order for an organization to grow, someone needs to take charge of growth and lead the effort.

This is the job of the growth leader.

A growth leader can have many different titles within the organization. Most often, it is the CEO, President, CSO, Head of Growth, or Chief Marketing Officer who is responsible for driving growth for the organization.

However, the job title alone does not guarantee competence or success. The title does not define the capability of the growth leader. Rather, it is how they think and what they do, which ultimately makes a growth leader successful.

In my experience, the best growth leaders share some common characteristics. I call these attributes the core DNA of a growth leader.

What are they? Read on…

Have a Growth Mindset

Having the right mindset can dramatically affect your habits, attitude, and actions. Your mindset will have an outsize influence on your ultimate success.

A growth leader is never happy with the status quo. They do not acknowledge any limitations, and are always thinking about how to evolve and grow the organization.

They are hardwired to view the world as “glass half full” by default. This is a growth mindset.

In my experience, the best growth leaders are passionate about growth, and this passion is infectious. They build teams, and organizations, that are hyper-focused on growth.

Focus on Talent

Growth leaders know that almost all problems in business are people problems. By extension, growth leaders also know that all solutions in business are also people solutions.

Successful growth strategy is largely determined by the people on your team.

Growth leaders relentlessly focus on attracting, developing, and retaining the best talent for their organization.

They know it is critical to have the right people on the bus, sitting in the right seats. They also take swift action to get the wrong people off the bus.

The best growth leaders also focus on creating new opportunities and providing professional development for their team. These leaders make every effort to coach and develop talent. This includes identifying the unique strengths of each team member, offering constructive feedback to help them improve in weaker areas, and presenting opportunities that not only leverage individual strengths but also benefit the business as a whole.

The benefits are many. With a growth mindset, leaders can develop a high performing workforce while also boosting morale and the bottom line.

Lead from the Front

Growth leaders know that scaling an organization is a team sport. They cannot do it alone.

They also know that every ship needs a captain, someone with a steady hand on the helm who leads from the front.

Growth leaders get out of the building and into the market. Growth leaders love to get dirty alongside their teams.

Acknowledge Unknown Unknowns

The best growth leaders accept that there are many unknown unknowns. They realize that they cannot possibly know everything, nor can they predict everything. However, that does not mean they should ignore potential disruptive forces.

They acknowledge that we are operating in an increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) business environment.

This unknown dynamic is not always comfortable, or fun. However, it is real and very likely not going to disappear. This uncertainty is a given, so growth leaders make plans to deal with it.

One proven solution for growth leaders and their teams is to develop deep situational awareness of their operating environment. This will help them identify potential disruptions before they happen. Over time, they will gain confidence in “seeing around corners,” or predicting, which events have a higher probability of happening.

Armed with this insight and analysis, growth leaders can then start to do scenario-based planning as part of their management cadence.

Disciplined About Strategic Planning

Growth leaders know that it is not very often you can shoot from the hip and be successful. Instead of a tactical and reactive approach, growth leaders take a disciplined approach to strategic planning.

Growth leaders seek to identify and bridge the strategic gap between Core Ideology (mission, values, purpose) and their Envisioned Future (vision, objectives) for the organization. They do this by creating a strategy and comprehensive action plan to get there, then taking consistent action.

True to Their Values

Growth leaders help define and evangelize the values of their organization. They also genuinely demonstrate these values each and every day through their words and actions.

Many organizations have some unique values, but there is absolutely no reason that honesty and integrity should not be on every organizations list.

Misalignment between an organization’s stated values and actions is a key predictor of failure.

Think Like a Scientist

Growth leaders are confident, and smart enough, to acknowledge they do not know everything.

What sets them apart is they do not attempt to hide it. Rather, they embrace gaps in their knowledge, and take a disciplined approach to learn more.

They are always in learning mode, and intuitively understand that lessons can come from the most unexpected people and places, if you are receptive to them.

Growth leaders are always asking questions like “why?”, “how?”, and “what if?” in an attempt to unlock more growth, at a faster rate, for their organization. They think like scientists and set up contained experiments to prove or disprove their theories.

Learn from Failure

Failure is part of the game regardless of your industry or role, or prior success. No individual, or organization, wins 100% of the time.

However, what sets growth leaders apart is they do not let failure define them. A key part of a growth mindset is combatting the impulse to wallow in self-pity and self-deprecation and instead make every effort to learn quickly from failure in order to grow.

With a growth mindset, leaders are able to analyze poor behaviors or tactics, identify what contributed to their failure, and make deliberate changes to achieve better success in the future.

This relentless line of inquiry does not always yield positive or useful results. However, it does get you much closer to a better answer over time. As Thomas Edison once said, ““I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

MFGSD!

Last but certainly not least, all growth leaders share one common attribute – they have a strong bias for action. They embody the MFGSD ethos, and instill it in their teams.

This relentless focus on execution is perhaps the most important element of a growth leader’s DNA.

Until someone takes action, nothing will happen.

-Onward

Get the Right People on the Bus First

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“It is better to first get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats, and then figure out where to drive.” – James C. Collins

Early on in my career, I learned a valuable business lesson from my father when he shared this pearl of wisdom with me:

In life, almost every problem is ultimately a people problem.

If I am being honest, the true gravity and impact of that statement was largely lost on me at the time. Furthermore, I cannot even remember the event that triggered the conversation. However, over the years (and all my successive senior leadership roles across a number of organizations) the absolute brilliance of his advice became readily apparent.

All problems are ultimately people problems.

By extension, all solutions are also dependent on people.

Why? Because in any organization it takes people, working together, to solve the problems and come up with solutions that serve clients/customers/constituents.

Whether you call them your people, your team, your coworkers, your colleagues, your talent, or even your workforce…people are the key ingredient for success in any organization.

The Bus Analogy from Good to Great

One of my all-time favorite business strategy books is Good to Great, by Jim Collins, where the author and his team researched a number of organizations in an attempt to decipher the “growth DNA” of great companies.

They had expected to find that the first step in taking a company from good to great would be to set a new direction (defining a new vision and strategy for the company) and then getting the organization committed and aligned behind that new direction.

What they found was quite the opposite.

They discovered this common pattern: Those executives who ignited transformations from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus (their metaphor for the organization) and then get people to take it there.

Instead, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it. These leaders essentially said, “Look, I don’t really know where we should take this bus. But I know this much: If we get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus, then we’ll figure out how to take it someplace great.”  

Three Simple Truths

Collins also found that these so-called “good-to-great leaders” understood three simple truths:

  1. If you begin with “who,” rather than “what,” you can more easily adapt to a changing world. If people join your organization primarily because of where it is going when they joined, what happens if you need to change direction? You then have a problem. However, if people are on the bus because of who else is on the bus, then it is much easier to change direction.
  2. When you have the right people on the bus, the problem of how to motivate and manage them largely goes away.  The right people do not need to be tightly managed or fired up; they will be self-motivated by the inner drive to produce the best results and to be part of creating something great.
  3. Finally, if you have the wrong people, it simply does not matter whether you discover the right direction; you still will not have a great company. Great vision without great people is irrelevant. In fact, as many of us have witnessed in our careers, the wrong people can be a cancer on the organization that will literally kill it from the inside out.

Connecting People to Your Strategic Plan

When starting out on their growth journey, many organizations unfortunately begin on the wrong foot.

It is a common trap for growth leaders to be so focused on the “what” that they neglect to think through the “who.” What do I mean by this?

In the world of growth strategy, execution begins with great leadership. Great leaders have the ability to attract, retain, and grow the talent needed to get the work done. They also instill a bias for action (MFGSD!)

Growing an organization, no matter the size or industry, is always a team sport. You will never reach your destination without the right team in place.

Expanding upon the “right people on the bus” analogy, here is my quick and dirty playbook for how you can connect people and your strategic plan for growth:

  1. It begins with a roadworthy bus. (Ensure your organization and product(s)/service(s) are ready to go to market. Do your values as an organization line up with the value you deliver to customers?)
  2. Make sure you have the right bus driver. (Does the leader of your organization have the experience, passion, and energy to lead the charge?)
  3. Next, get the right people on the bus. (This is your core leadership team.)
  4. Followed by getting the wrong ones off the bus. Quickly. (One of the most important, and difficult challenges for leaders is to take quick and decisive action on those who do not belong on the bus.)
  5. Next, make sure everyone is sitting in the right seat. (Do you have the right people in the right roles.)
  6. Now, as a team, you can think about your destination. (What is your envisioned future? What are your long-term objectives?)
  7. Followed by, plotting your ideal roadmap to get there, along with planning for any unexpected detours you might encounter along the way. (This is where you define your chosen strategy and create a robust plan.)
  8. Start driving! (Now it is time to get out of the building, and get dirty.)

Great People Achieve Great Results

Growth leaders embrace the concept that all problems are people problems, and all solutions require people.

The best leaders focus on building a great culture, one that attracts and retains the talent they need to execute their growth plans. They know that great people will achieve great results.

A roadworthy bus, with the right driver, and the right people on the bus, sitting in the right seats, is a great start to reaching your desired destination.

-Onward

Survival of the Most Adaptable

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“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin

You often hear Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, first published in his book On the Origin of Species in 1859, summarized as “survival of the fittest.” It turns out this is not exactly the correct interpretation.

In reality, Darwin actually meant survival of the most adaptable to change.

This concept of adaptability applies perfectly to today’s chaotic VUCA environment. I believe those organizations (and leaders) who are best able to adapt to change will grow and thrive. Those who don’t, won’t!

VUCA is the New Normal

Let’s face it, 2020 has been one wild rollercoaster of a ride. Across industries, the global pandemic has accelerated many changes that were already in motion, and created a number of new ones.

This unprecedented pace of change and disruption is only going to continue. This new VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environment is here to stay.

As a result, leaders of organizations have a simple choice to make:

  • Will they stand by and hope for things to revert?
  • Or, will they choose to adapt to the new environment?

When you step back and think about it, the correct answer is obvious.

Things are very unlikely to return to where they were. Ever.

The world has changed. As a result, leaders and their teams need to adapt. Quickly.

Adaptability is the Key to Survival and Growth

The key to survival and growth in times of disruption is your mindset, your preparation, and your willingness to embrace change.

Leaders, organizations, and industries who are operating in survival mode are in deep trouble. When survival instincts prevent movement from the status quo, then extinction is near.

Those leaders, and their teams, who are adaptable and operate with an empowered, strategic, and future-focused way of thinking will win. The ability to be flexible, make quick decisions, and then take action will help them out-wit, out-play, and out-last their competitors. This is the key to survival and growth in a VUCA world.

Leaders and their teams need to get out of the building. They must be ever vigilant, always prepared to act quickly and decisively when confronted with moments of need or opportunity, adversity or change.

VUCA Strategic Planning is Your Secret Weapon

Any battle-hardened leader will tell you that no plan survives its first contact with the market! Therefore, it is wise to have a robust, yet flexible, approach when making plans for the future.

The VUCA Strategic Planning framework provides a disciplined approach to planning and achieving the Envisioned Future of the organization, while maintaining flexibility the ability to pivot quickly when VUCA strikes.

We do not always see it immediately, but disruptions also bring opportunity. We need to be observant and open to the possibility. Be calm and clearheaded enough to recognize it and react appropriately.

Strategic organizations and brave leaders are even willing to disrupt themselves!

To win in a disruptive VUCA environment, you must win in your mind first! This begins with preparation, and a comprehensive strategic plan.

To survive and thrive, high performing leaders and their teams:

  • Know their purpose, their why.
  • Understand their long-term goals. Their what.
  • Know how they need to work together. Their strategy. Their how.
  • Have connection. Share common core values.
  • Have robust situational awareness, considering both internal and external perspectives and market forces.
  • Have a comprehensive plan. Everyone on the team has a role to play.
  • Have considered and planned for alternative scenarios. Leaders are constantly asking “what if?…”
  • Maintain an active strategy portfolio in case the primary one fails.
  • Actively manage the execution of the plan to monitor progress, control resources, and have the ability to make quick course-corrections.

Conclusion – Adapt or Risk Failure

This is both an exciting and nerve-wracking time to be a business leader.

Regardless of your industry, or the size of your organization, today’s business climate is chaotic, fluid, and changing rapidly. Every leader and their team will have a unique set of problems to solve and challenges to overcome, requiring new ways of thinking and different tactics than the past.

As our new VUCA world continues to unfold, I believe there will be unlimited opportunity to grow and thrive for those organizations who are best able to adapt.

I encourage all leaders and organizations to embrace change and build adaptability as a core competancy.

-Onward

What is Your Core Ideology?

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“Only a clear definition of the mission and purpose of the organization makes possible clear and realistic business objectives.” – Peter F. Drucker

Many well-intentioned strategic planning processes go sideways because they are written from a stratospheric “Ivory Tower” perspective, complete with aspirational mission statements and esoteric values. They miss the mark because there is little thought given to how these tools can help to align the team and provide guidance for tactical on-the-ground execution of strategy.

This is unfortunate, because your business, and your team, they don’t live behind closed doors. No, they live outside of the company boardroom, with their feet on the ground delivering products and/or services to your customers in the marketplace every day. Corporate puffery and lofty statements just don’t provide much utility for the front-line team members who must make real-time decisions in today’s unpredictable and harsh VUCA environment.

There is a better way. It takes a bit of work, but for growth leaders it is well worth the effort.

In order to create an effective VUCA strategic plan it is important to clarify and nail down the mission, values, and purpose of your organization. When done well, these declarations articulate your core ideology, and become a powerful planning foundation from which you can envision a future, and then develop the appropriate objectives and a plan to get there.

The rest of this article explores the three core ideology elements that form the required foundation to build an effective and useful VUCA plan: Mission, Values, and Purpose.

Defining Your Core Ideology: Mission, Values, Purpose

Much like the hull of a ship, or the foundation for a building, your core ideology creates a strong and durable platform to align the whole organization behind your purpose, and from which you can then build an effective strategy and plan.

Many planning exercises are set up to fail from the start because the leadership teams creating them are not clear on the intention of key elements, or they should fit together. Another common challenge is a failure to write them from the perspective of helping to guide the daily activities of the organization.

Fortunately, both of these challenges are easy to address with clear definitions. Here is a quick overview of each of the three components that create your core ideology:

  • Mission – A mission statement defines what your company or organization does and for whom. It should be specific enough that people understand what you do and how it may differ from your competitors, but also aspirational in that it may never be fully achieved. Ideally it will be short and easy for your team to memorize. It will provide a sense of direction to guide future decision-making and strategy formulation.
  • Values – Your core values support your mission, define the culture, and should reflect how your organization will fulfill its purpose. They are the operating principles, beliefs, or philosophy of values embraced by your entire team. Be careful to focus on core values (those on which the organization will never compromise and is willing to pay a price to uphold) versus aspirational values (those that the organization espouses, but has yet to live up to in day-to-day operations). To be meaningful, values should be described in clear behavioral terms. Ideally, your values can be presented as a short and impactful list (i.e. no more than 5-7 total).
  • Purpose – This concept has been popularized by Simon Sinek as “start with why” – it takes an outward focus by defining why the business exists, its larger purpose for being, in the context of your customers. In order to inspire your team to do their best work and fulfill your mission, you want to find a way to express the organization’s impact on the lives of customers, clients, students, patients – whomever you are serving. Purpose shares the benefit or benefits provided by your organization, and articulates them in the context of the customer. Great purpose statements are motivational, because they connect with the heart as well as the head by putting managers and employees in customers’ shoes and defining “this is what we’re delivering for someone else.”

Note: It is not unheard of to see organizations use mission, vision, and purpose statements interchangeably. Or, even to combine them. And that’s okay, so long as it works for you, there is no right answer. In my experience I’ve always found it is easier to have them exist separately because then the intent for each is pure, they are easier to create and share, and it is simpler to revisit one and update it. You’ll know you’ve got it right when they support and build on one another, and one doesn’t work without the other.

Future articles will explore each element in detail, including guidance on how to craft them, and some real-life examples.

The Value of Having a Solid Foundation for VUCA Planning

In order to be successful with strategic planning we need to know the core cultural elements (mission, values, purpose) that define the organization. Together, this core ideology is the foundation for effective VUCA planning, becoming the “true North” guideposts your team can use for making strategic decisions.

In a VUCA environment, where unpredictable and disruptive events can happen very quickly, we need to embrace an agile approach to making decisions in real-time. We must always balance the objective, or goal attainment, against our corporate mission, values, and purpose. If they are not in alignment, we have a problem. It is imperative that we “keep our eye on the prize” so to speak, there must be a vision for the future and knowledge of the ultimate objective(s) we are trying to achieve in order to get there.

Knowing what you’re doing and for whom (your mission), how you’re going to go about it (your values), and why you’re doing it (your purpose) are the glue that holds an organization together. Your core ideology is an essential part to building your strategic foundation and developing a strategy. You preserve these fixed elements while your vision of the future, strategies and objectives can change and flex with the market or VUCA impacts. In other words, you may modify your vision and objectives over time, but your mission, values, and purpose should remain relatively unchanged.

Conclusion

To summarize, before any strategic VUCA planning can begin we must have two foundational parts in place:

  • Core ideology – defining the mission, values, and purpose of the organization. As this article shared, these elements explain why the organization exists and what it stands for. With this framework you will have complete clarity when making critical business decisions that impact the future of your organization.
  • Envisioned future –a clearly defined future vision for what the organization aspires to become, and your goals. These elements explain the desired future state of the organization, and long-term goals.

With a core ideology planning elements of mission/values/vision/purpose in place, the organization now has a very helpful alignment tool, and a strong foundation from which to create effective strategy and objectives in the form of a VUCA plan. More on that next time.

-Onward