Fast-growing organizations face many challenges. So for you, as the leader, it can be tough to know what to keep your eye on and where to focus your attention. In fact, you have to constantly ask yourself:
Are all the decisions that need to be made and all the areas and functions of my organization equally important and worthy of my focus?
It's not an easy question and I'm often asked to help my clients create the focus and strategies needed to navigate growth and all its associated issues.
Through that work, I’ve identified five actions that must be at the top of every growth-focused leader’s to-do list – actions that simply cannot be completely ignored or delegated.
If your organization is in or about to enter a period of growth, use this list to help you navigate the journey and ensure your organization thrives:
5 Actions that Must Top Your Fast-Growth To-Do List
#1. Watch Your Cash Flow
Funding growth can be an incredible challenge for organizations as they try to hire, maintain inventory, improve products and services, and meet demand. Growth can put an incredible strain on your financial resources. You have to spend money to make money. But this can get out of control and put your organization in a vulnerable position.
What to Do
Manage your cash flow extra carefully during growth. See which customers and channels produce consistent sales and maximize those contributions. Work with your vendors and partners to structure favorable payment terms. Don't invest in additional infrastructure (like new offices) too soon. It is far better to wait until you're bursting at the seams or until you absolutely cannot operate without an expense, than it is to take on expenses you actually could do without – at least for awhile. If your growth plan works, you'll need to take on those expenses soon enough.
#2. Respond to Your Competition
Organizations can get lulled into a false sense of security during periods of growth. They can begin to believe that no one can touch them – that they are peerless. That’s a dangerous mindset and can blind you to the fact that you have competitors and need to continually reinforce your organization's position and differentiate to maintain good standing.
What to Do
Focus on what your organization does best and what sets it apart from competitors. Communicate your value proposition to prospects and clients clearly and often. Additionally, ask for feedback from customers to make sure that you have a clear-eyed view of the value of your offering.
#3. Nurture a Great Culture
Culture can be the first casualty of a high-growth organization. Either because you do a lot of hiring without spending the time to orient to, and reinforce the culture. Or the emphasis on your culture and values takes a backseat to the demands of the day-to-day work of meeting growth requirements. Whatever the driver, you can’t afford to have growth derail your culture.
What to Do
Now’s the time to make sure that your organizational values are guiding your decisions. This is especially helpful as you ask employees to go above and beyond to help the organization grow because if your demands are aligned with the culture you’re promoting, it will help unite your team. If you’re hiring people, make sure that they will be great champions of your culture by taking the time to on-board and orient them properly.
#4. Keep Up with Market Changes
If your organization is experiencing high growth, the reaction can be to focus internally to get the job done. This can be dangerous in the long run because the market isn’t going to stand still while you execute your current goals and situation.
What to Do
Make it your job as the leader to keep one eye on the horizon to see what trends, twists and turns might be coming down the pike that will require you to adjust and re-align. It won’t serve you to execute through the growth, only to get to the other side and find that your organization and/or offerings are now irrelevant and out of sync.
#5. Decide When to Abandon a Strategy
Sometimes the best ideas and plans just don’t pan out. That offering you thought had a market; that partner who was going to create a 1 + 1 = 3 scenario; the list goes on. Knowing when to abandon a strategy can be just as important as setting a strategy.
What to Do
Understand that failure is part of growth and the ability to recognize failure, reassess and redeploy is critical to learning from mistakes and moving forward.
