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Nine Things That Can Sink Your Growth Strategy (and Your Company)

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Nine things that can sink your growth strategy

“You may not be able to control the waves of change, but you can build a different boat.”

– General Stanley McChrystal

As any seasoned entrepreneur or senior executive will quickly tell you, there are many things that can sink your growth strategy, and ultimately your company if you are not careful.

While it is almost impossible to predict the future, you can prepare for some of the most common growth challenges. It starts by recognizing factors that could negatively affect the growth trajectory of your organization, and then thinking strategically about your options for responding.

For those organizations, and leaders, who successfully navigated through the nightmare of 2020 there were many such learning opportunities. It was a year unlike any other, and for growth leaders it offered many lessons on how to survive and thrive in a true VUCA environment.

In this article, I will share a few of the more common challenges that I have witnessed.

Learning from the Example of Others

If you are really paying attention as a growth leader, you can learn many valuable lessons by observing the failure of others.

By understanding the elements that contributed to the failure, and identifying if they exist (or could potentially emerge) in your operating environment, you can make plans to prevent these challenges from derailing your organization.

The best part of this strategy? You do not have to endure the pain and suffering yourself!

Nine Common Growth Challenges (and how to avoid them)

Here are nine of the most common growth challenges, and suggestions on how to avoid them in your organization:

  1. No vision – A key element of strategic planning is to define your Envisioned Future. Without a defined vision and long-term goals, your organization will be aimless. During the pandemic, many organizations panicked but ultimately found their footing and a path forward. Some leaders reverted to “survivor mode” and did not uphold their envisioned future, losing sight of where they wanted to go, and likely losing the confidence of their team in the process.
  2. Strategy not aligned with core ideology – Most successful organizations have defined their Core Ideology (mission, values, and purpose.) In the past 12 months, many organizations failed to align their internal and external actions with their stated purpose and values. This misalignment might not show any immediate effect, but it creates a crack in the foundation that will only grow over time. The best growth organizations are consistently true to their purpose and values, in good times and in bad. Many organizations have some form of “honesty” and “integrity” in their stated corporate values…a great question for growth leaders to ask is, “Did our actions align with our values in the past 12 months?”
  3. Neglecting talent – Growth leaders recognize that most problems are ultimately people problems. As a result, they focus on getting the right people on the bus, sitting in the right seats. During the pandemic, many organizations downsized to protect their bottom line. While necessary to some degree, many organizations will discover they cut too far and are now unable to capitalize on a recovery ahead of more strategic competitors who kept their talent intact.
  4. Poor situational awareness – Let’s be honest, almost every organization was completely blindsided by the global pandemic. Very few saw that disruptive force coming. However, by paying better attention to their operating environment and developing better situational awareness, growth leaders can begin to anticipate other potentially disruptive forces.
  5. Lack of a plan – The side benefit to developing greater situational awareness, is that growth leaders can do scenario planning with their teams. While it is okay to be surprised, there is no excuse for being unprepared. Successful growth leaders are always asking questions like, “What is the worst case scenario?” and “How would our organization respond to that?”
  6. Failure to take decisive action – Successful growth leaders have a strong, and consistent, bias for action. During the pandemic, many organizations hunkered down, hitting the pause button on executing their growth strategies. While some slowdown was prudent – and in many cases necessary – to completely stop created a huge loss of momentum, and ultimately sent an inconsistent message to the market. Many of these organizations likely will not recover from the resulting loss of talent and market traction.
  7. Failure to pivot – Closely related to taking decisive action, is knowing when something is not working and it is time for a change. Growth leaders know that sometimes the best way to get through an obstacle is to chart a new course and go around it! They innovate new products or services, enter new markets, or find new ways to position what they are selling. In the startup world this is call a “pivot” and it is a vital life skill for any growth leader. The organization either adapts or dies as a result.
  8. Lack of liquidity – There is an old business finance rule that “cash is King.” In truth, it is King, and Queen, and probably the entire royal court. Liquidity is the fuel for any organization, and without it, the organization will likely fail. The obvious connotation of liquidity is money, but it also applies to people, and capacity. Every growth leader must ensure the organization has the required resources necessary to execute its growth plan.
  9. Failure to communicate – Finally, successful growth leaders are exceptional communicators. They have an open, honest, two-way dialogue with all their constituents – both internally and externally. They do not fall victim to the temptation of putting lipstick on a pig. This clear and consistent communication not only serves as a vehicle to share strategy, it also provides a continuous feedback loop, builds trust, and ultimately helps to sell whatever solutions the organization is providing.

Conclusion

The pandemic has taught us that if you do not take the time to imagine the worst, you might not be prepared when disaster strikes. Bad things come in many shapes and sizes, and they do happen. Even to the best organizations.

By thinking about these common growth strategy challenges ahead of time, growth leaders will have a big head start on how to avoid them. Others in the market might stick their heads in the sand and hope their challenges will go away. But not growth leaders.  They confront adversity head on.

The good news – you can learn from the experience of others and prevent them from happening in your organization.

The bad news – if you ignore them, they can be catastrophic.

-Onward

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

The Emperor Has No Clothes

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“The strength of any organization is a direct result of the strength of its leaders. Weak leaders equal weak organizations. Strong leaders equal strong organizations. Everything rises and falls on leadership.” – John Maxwell

We are living in a strange and challenging era. As the global pandemic continues to have a profound economic and social impact, two things have become very clear – this level of VUCA disruption is not going away, and the need for strong leaders has never been greater.

The virus in some way has affected each of us – Hundreds of thousands have lost their lives; tens of millions have lost the jobs; billions have been inconvenienced or stressed.

Against this catastrophic backdrop, there is no question this has also been a challenging period for leaders of organizations of all types: government agencies, public and private companies, and non-profits.

Times of crisis are an inflection point, providing an opportunity for true leaders to reveal themselves. Many have stepped up and demonstrated their true leadership attributes, while others have stumbled.

Crises can also reveal weaknesses in organizational alignment or teams that are often hidden, or conveniently ignored, when times are good. It is exactly at times like this that we can witness real leaders, showing their true characters and capabilities.

There isn’t an established playbook for leaders to follow in this type of disruptive and chaotic environment, but there are some timeless leadership principles that still work. In this article, I’ll share a few observations and some guidance for leaders as we slowly begin to re-start the economy.

The Emperor’s New Clothes

I was thinking the other day about some of the business leadership failures I have either witnessed, or heard about from my network, in the past few months. For some reason this topic reminded me of one of my favorite childhood stories, The Emperor’s New Clothes, by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Even though this folktale is almost 200 years old, it still has relevance.

CAVEAT: Although the parallels to some of our current political leaders are obvious, and it would be far too easy to pick on them, this article has absolutely no political aspirations or intent. My focus is purely on the world of business.

In case you have not read the story, or it has been a long time since you last heard it, here is a quick summary:

A vain emperor, who cares only about his status and appearance, and has a penchant for wearing fancy clothes, gets enchanted by two scheming weavers who promise to make him a new set of clothes unlike anything else in the kingdom. They bluff him with promises of an outfit made of fine and rare fabric that has the special power of being invisible to anyone who is unfit for their position, stupid, or incompetent. This proves to be too big a temptation for the emperor, who engages them immediately. In reality, the weavers only pretend to make the clothes. As a result, no one, not even the emperor nor his royal court can see the alleged “clothes” when they are finished, but they all play along lest they appear unfit for their positions. And the public has the same reaction when the emperor parades with his new clothes, lest they appear stupid or incompetent. Finally, a child, completely ignorant of the ruse, cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”

As a child, I found this tale, in its profound absurdity, to be very amusing. As an adult, I am coming to appreciate some of the applications to the modern business world.

Over the years, literary scholars have noted that the phrase, “Emperor’s new clothes”, has become a standard metaphor for anything that smacks of pretentiousness, pomposity, social hypocrisy, collective denial, or hollow ostentatiousness. Others have suggested that the real moral of the story is in having the courage of one’s convictions – to speak the truth and challenge authority, no matter what the repercussions or humiliation to the recipient.

All pretty relevant to effective leadership and today’s disrupted business environment.

Some Recent Examples

This got me to thinking about some of the lapses I have seen in the world of work over the past few months:

  • Companies with predominantly white male executive teams and boards, claiming they care about diversity and inclusion…
  • Organizations undertaking massive RIFs while simultaneously recruiting for “exciting career growth” job opportunities…
  • Public companies securing huge CARES relief loans at the expense of small ones who didn’t have the resources to apply quickly…
  • Leaders who claim they “lead from the front” yet have never visited their teams, or major clients, out in the field…
  • Tone deaf celebrities and business leaders sharing pictures of their swanky shelter-in-place digs (from mountain retreats to yachts)…
  • Companies who claim to be high-touch and people-centric in their recruiting firing people by email or group conference call…
  • Companies that have been hell-bent on growth and retail outlet expansion to gain market share, now demanding rent relief from property owners…

I’m sure you’ve probably seen a few notable examples as well.

Takeaways for Today’s Business Leaders

Of course, not all of the bad behavior examples above are attributable to vain or out-of-touch leaders, but I think many are. A few of them have garnered media scrutiny and negative publicity. Deservedly so.

Being the leader of an organization is a privilege. One that comes with responsibility.

It is appropriate to hold leaders accountable for what happens within their organizations. Depending on the example, individual leaders may not have done anything egregious, but they do craft organizational strategy, they do own the culture, they do set the tone, they should care about the well-being of their people, and by default every good leader should take full accountability for the actions of anyone in the organization.

In this new VUCA world, this time of turmoil and stress, it is time for leaders to step up.

Do the right thing.

Be a leader.

In that spirit, here are a few takeaways for today’s business leaders, which I think are also good values for any organization to embrace:

  • Display empathy. Run every decision and communication you make in regards to your workforce past this filter: In the past 3 months, nearly 40 million Americans have lost their jobs. Over 100,000 have lost their lives. Unemployment is now at historic highs. Is your decision empathic to those affected already, or those who are worried they may soon be?
  • Practice humility. It is not a time for grandstanding or braggadocio, it is a time to get busy, and do the hard work. The concept of servant leadership has great application here. Leaders should serve those on the front lines who are doing the work of the organization. Helping to solve problems and remove obstacles. Be a visible leader, but don’t take the credit for it.
  • Be honest. Nobody expects leaders to have all the answers. However, lies and deception always catch up to the owner. If leaders do not have the answers, then they should promise to work through it and find solutions. People don’t always expect you to have to have the final and definitive answers, they just want to know that leaders care and are working towards a solution.
  • Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. In fact, you cannot over-communicate to your organization in an environment like this. Practicing the above traits (empathy, humility, honesty) while providing frequent and transparent updates to your team. They will appreciate it, and you.
  • Lead by example. Great leaders lead from the front, and they walk the talk. If leaders are going to open a plant or office back up, they had better be the one opening the door and greeting each worker who enters. It would not hurt to be the one serving them coffee or lunch too!
  • Be human. I left this for last because I think it is the most important. Remember, business is all about people. Focus on them. Act with integrity. If all else fails, follow the golden rule: do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. Be human.

Conclusion

Organizations and their leaders show their true colors in the difficult times. In this new and unpredictable VUCA business environment, I hope more leaders step up and lead.

The world needs it. Now more than ever.

-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