So you started and have grown a company. Now, most days you find yourself overwhelmed by daily complexities. You keep wondering what happened. It’s true that a company with 10 to 15 employees is very different from one with 25 to 35 employees or more. People add complexity. How do you make the transition from a specialist with a vision to that of a manager responsible for people, processes and profit/revenue?
Making the Transition
The starting point is helping your company move from being CEO-centric to Enterprise-centric. From you making all the decisions to developing a team with greater roles and responsibilities. You should have or should be assembling people who you can trust to operate different parts of the business. Your role shifts from being the ‘go-to person’ to the manager/mentor/coach, helping your staff grow with the needs of the company. There is a huge difference in assigning a task verses assigning responsibility.
The Research Findings
The challenge you face with your management team is alignment. You need to agree on the issues that need to be addressed. You could guess or you could rely on the research findings by James Fischer. Based on interviews and working with 650 CEO’s in 35 different industries, he was able to identify 7 Stages of Growth that firms pass through. In this research, he also found that businesses face 27 different Challenges as they grow through these 7 Stage of Growth™.
A Couple Examples of Getting to Alignment
One smaller firm I worked with had a management team of three. They were given the list of 27 Challenges and asked to select the Top 5 Challenges the company faced today. In a perfect world, they might have all independently selected the same five, but they didn’t. They selected 11. A larger firm with a management team of 5 did the same exercise and they selected 18 different challenges. I facilitated a management team discussion that led to agreement and alignment on the firm’s Top 5 Challenges.
Some Conclusions
What I have found from the 27 Challenge Assessment is
1. It is hard to get things done and solve challenges when you have 11 or 18 different ones.
2. It is also difficult to solve a challenge that you have not put words to and thus specifically defined it.
3. Without a discussion of the challenges, you cannot get management team alignment.
4. Without alignment of the management team, you will not get engagement. Engagement does not come from directives but from being a part of the discussion.
Testing This Approach
You may be wondering if the 27 Challenges will really work for your company. So I challenge you to take the FREE 27 Challenge Assessment and you will not only have a better insight into your Top 5 Challenges, but you will receive a Special Report for your Stage of Growth. The Report will provide you with the following:
5 Biggest Challenges
Tools to Build Your Business
5 Non-Negotiable Rules
Business Building Blocks
Getting Ready for the next Stage of Growth
To take the FREE 27 Challenge Assessment go to https://www.trwconsulting16.com/ and click on Take 27 Challenge Assessment.
TRW Consulting was created to help companies navigate the challenges that are typical for a Stage 1 through Stage 7 organizations. We have designed programs, services, and tools that are directly tied to the issues faced at each stage of growth.
Visit our website https://www.trwconsulting16.com/services/growth-curve-specialist/ for additional resources:
Stages of Growth X-Ray™ is a facilitated workshop with a CEO and his/her management team that gets to the root cause of critical issues in order to create alignment, engagement, and create action plans that get implemented.
Want to learn even more? Check out my eBook 4-Puzzle Pieces to Growing a Successful Business. It is a FREE download and only 30 pages long but it is filled with great ideas. Click on the link below, complete the form, click that you are not a robot, and then click on Send Me My Free eBook.
Free eBook – 4 Puzzle Pieces to Growing a Successful Business