The dynamics to achieving Hypergrowth in your organisation

As a growth coach on the UK  government’s Growth Accelerator programme I am frequently working with CEO’s and their teams from High Growth organisations. In the US a Gazelle’s company is defined as one capable of growing revenues by 20% for four consecutive years. Highly prized these Mid Market organisations are the driving force behind employment growth in many of the world’s economies.

Some research that has just been undertaken by Grant Thornton and the Growth Accelerator programme has looked at the dynamics underpinning those companies that are achieving hyper growth, with results outperforming the mean within the Growth Accelerator programme.

Hyper Growth businesses are defined by:
• Are GrowthAccelerator clients
• Have achieved 65% + increase in Gross Value Added (GVA)2
and/or employment growth in year one of GrowthAccelerator (FY12/13)
• Have achieved GVA growth of >£500,000 or employment growth of > 10 people

The concept of Hyper Growth is a simple one,it is a business that has grown at a remarkable rate, far beyond what is commonly considered “high growth”. By analysing the characteristics, culture, nature and approach of the businesses and – in particular – the leaders who have presided over this period of exceptional growth we can begin to ascertain what are the characteristics that underpin exceptional growth in a company.

 

The 15 traits of Hyper Growth companies identifies a number of characteristics that you would expect in many High Growth organisations, so what is it that sets this group apart.  I have written over recent weeks the importance of a Growth Mindset and having the confidence to invest, make the tough calls and bring on board the very best talent.   I have also studied Multipliers by Liz Wiseman and again many of the traits that she describes in high performance leaders are reflected in the traits above.

I am working with around 5 or 6 hyper growth companies,  using the definition from Grant Thornton.  The major factors from my point of view would be ambition, setting down BHAGs ( Big Hairy Audacious Goals as described by Jim Collins),  having the discipline and tenacity to  overcome set backs and Massive FOCUS on executing the plan.  The other key factor is then the ability to let go and bring in a talented team who are able to drive exceptional growth while look after both customers and the bottom line.

Verne Harnish, author of Mastering the Rockefeller habits recognises four disciplines that high growth companies need to master: Strategy, Cash, People and Execution. His new book Scaling Up will be an excellent reference point for any company looking to achieve outstanding growth prospects.

In my next Blog I will investigate more of the Hyper growth Insights study which you can read more about by clicking on the link.

 

Author:   https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NealeLewis/posts

 

The new rules for exceptional Leadership.

I had the great pleasure to meet Robin Sharma at the recent Fortune Leadership Summit in Orlando. He   delivered a great key note around the theme of new rules for exceptional leadership based on his book, The Leader Who Had No Title.

Robin Sharma believes there are certain skills and attitudes that allow you to rise to extraordinary success. In his powerful new parable, he offers a story designed to help people from all walks of life to achieve great things.

In the opening part of his address he opened to our minds to a new way of thinking around Leadership:

• Leadership is not about your title, or your office; it is a way of thinking!   Everyone can show Leadership..
• Leadership is what you do when no one is watching..
• How excellent are you when you are the only person in the office…. How passionate are you about your business at 5am in the morning, when everyone else is in bed..
• You have to be willing to think, create, produce like only 5%
• Consistency is the mother of mastery

Small daily improvements when done consistently over time lead to Mastery….  These lead to a world class business ….which in turn lead to a tsunami of results!!

The new rules of Exceptional Leadership

1.  You’re paid not just to work.  You are being paid to be scared.  The place where you greatest fears live are where you greatest growth lies.   This ability to stretch yourself  out of your comfort zone will allow you to grow as a leader .

2. The old model of leadership is obsolete.   Now anyone, can show leadership.

3. A job is only a job if you choose to see it as a job.   Your job is an opportunity for you to express more of the talents that you have and your genius everyday.

4. Your number one competitive edge is growing leaders at all levels faster.   Your job is to grow more leaders.  If you are not doing this you all not creating more leaders, just followers.

If you are developing talent all around you and you are growing more leaders, if you have a coaching culture developing more and more leaders, your business will become unstoppable in the market place.  You will also feel fantastic about your work because you will be provoking and inspiring people to do work that they have never done, that’s Leadership!

Leadership is about three simple things:

1.  Inspiration.  Creative businesses where born in a moment of inspiration.   The most important role Chief Inspiration Officer.  Is your vision so outrageous , so on the edge,
Steve Jobs obsession was building beautiful things
2. Influence.  Your team will behave exactly the way that you behave.   “If you have not discovered a cause that you are willing to die for, you are not fit to live.”  Martin Luther King Jnr. The most successful Teams, Entrepreneurs, Business builders are on fire for the mission !!  They are simply unstoppable
3. Impact. Less Talk more Do,   Ideation without Execution is mere delusion. In the age of dramatic distraction      There is a need to roll up your sleeves and FOCUS on  a few deliverables.

Success

The number one trait of success:

• It is not your intelligence; you are already smart enough.
•  It is not your history; it does not matter.
• its not your environment.

Number one factor in success in education, in business, in sport, in life is Grit.

GRIT: You do not give up….The super successful spend at least  2 hours and 44 minutes every day for ten years mastering their art. You stay focused on the one thing that if you do it will become your lasting legacy, the thing that you become famous for in your chosen profession.

The 6 Devotions of Leaders without Titles:

1. Be so good we can’t take our eyes off you.    How can we deliver more value to our clients that they evangelise about us.  Be so good at what you do that you create your own economy.  We need you to being a master of your class.  Leave the cult of mediocrity and join the club of mastery.
2. Go Minimalist like Michelangelo.  Build your days, your life around one thing.   It is what you say no to.   Clarity is power..
3. Avoid the arrogance of Success.   When you become successful in business , or leadership  you become susceptible .   To you still have fire in your belly.
4. Leave people better than you found them.    “The business of business, is people”  Herb Kelleher the CEO of South West Airlines.  “If you take care of the relationship then the money will take care of itself” Look at most great businesses they will be asking: How you we have a world class Customer relationship ? How can we give our customers massive amounts of value? How can we surprise them? If you customers do not love you, your competitors will take away your customers.
5. The 10 x value obsession for fanatics. How can you offer 10 times the value than your competitors do?
6. Remember that failure is greatness waiting to happen.  Success is a numbers game, look at the number of failures and rejections that James Dyson had before his vacuum cleaners were eventually accepted.

Implementation Disciplines

1. 20 -20 -20 Rule   –   Train yourself to get  up at 5 am –  When you have most energy , most passion, most focus. Spend the first twenty minutes exercising, the next 20 minutes focusing on your plan and the final 20 minutes reading. It will take up to  66 days to change deep ingrained  habits, so be prepared for massive self discipline
2. 90 -90 -1 Formula: Next 90 days spend the first 90 minutes on your biggest single opportunity, on your Number ONE opportunity.
3. 2 X  :  3 X Mindset: To double your income and productivity, triple your investment in personal development and professional education.  Because education is the inoculation against disruption. The personal who knows the most WILL win
4. The daily FIVE and nightly THREE protocol.    Write down Five little acts of excellence that you will achieve every day. Then reflect on three achievements at the end of each day.

Finally in the wrap up Robin Sharma asked us all to reflect on our legacy:

1:  Who did you become?   We suffer from under capitalisation, we have not achieved our potential.   Did you spend all your potential?
2:   How many people did you help? How many leaders did you grow? How much value did you create for your clients?

He finished up with the quote below:

“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch, which I have got hold offer the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations”     George Bernard Shaw

To watch the video of Verne Harnish CEO Gazelles interviewing Robin Sharma, click on the link below:

The 7 indispensable qualities for Leadership Excellence

I recently had the privilege of hearing Pat Williams speaking in Orlando and hearing his thoughts on leadership much of which he has learnt in the US sports arena and through his book writing, including his book  “Leadership Excellence.” In his speech he outlined the seven indispensable qualities for Leadership Excellence:

1.  Vision

Outstanding leaders understand the importance of vision in leadership.  A visionary leader sees in Vivid technicolour.   Ronald Reagan said  “To grasp a vision is the heart and sole of leadership.”    They see a finished product and that is what keeps them going.  They are crystal clear on where they are going.

Vision benefits :

1. It will keep you focused. Locked In,  a blinker like focus on success.   Nothing appears to great leaders than straight ahead.

2. It will keep fuelled, energised and passionate about where you are going.  This passion should radiate through the organisation.

3.  It will help you finish, get you across the goal line.  It is always about Results.  The vision pulls leaders like a magnet across the finish line.  It also helps you to fight through all the obstacles and the road blocks you will encounter on the journey.

2. Communicating your Vision.   Without being able to communicate your vision effectively nothing will happen. You need to believe that you are a communicating organisation. Communicate as much as you can. “The more they understand the more they care, and when they care they will do extraordinary things.” ( Sam Walton, founder of Walmart) Communicate so that people understand —

• Communicate optimism. Optimism is a choice and one of the most powerful ones that we can make.
• Communicate Hope.  Humans are desperate for Hope.. “A leader is a dealer in hope”.  Napoleon.   Things are going to better in the future than they were in the past.

Great leaders are communicating Motivation and Inspiration.  Helping to light a fire in their belly You have to do it publicly and in front of other people.  Using stories as opposed to power points.  People love stories, they can’t get enough of them.

3. People Skills.   Great leaders have people skills.   They care about people , the have a heart for people , they have a real empathy for them.

4. Character Counts in Leadership.   Leadership consists of two vital components: Strategy and Character:

•  Norman Shwarpzkof highlights honesty, Telling the truth in every situation.  The chief to my attitude is keeping my resolve once a decision has been  made Honesty.
• Abraham Lincoln would be characterised by Integrity, a leader who walks the talk.
• They take Responsibility.  They are not finger pointers.  They do not blame.
• They have Humility. A humble spirit.   The most endearing quality of any leader.

5. Competence.   Leaders are good at what they do.  That begs the question how did they get good at what they do? Are they born or made?  Both, as all leaders are born!!, but they are looking to get better every day. What are some key Leadership competencies:

• Solving Problems.   They understand that solving problems is why  they are in that position.
• Spotting Talent and Building a team.   Sports teams have scouts, always searching for top talent.
• Selling.  Great leaders are great sales people.
• Teaching.  Leaders are life long teachers.  Great coaches are not talking about coaching, they are teaching their team, their customers, their suppliers. You cannot be a life long teacher until you make a commitment to be a life long learner.  Hang out with the smartest people that you can find.   Be a life long reader.
• Challenge to read for an hour a day for the rest of your life.  An hour a day, will make you read a book a week.   52 books in the course of a year.

6. Boldness.  Leaders whey they see a Leadership void do not sit on the sideline.  Stepping up and leading when the moment presents itself.   When it happens… You need to step and BE THE BOSS!

7. A serving heart. It is not about me, it is always about you.  It is not about my only individual success but the success of the team.   They are not into Manipulating people but putting themselves at the heart of the people they serve.  Nelson Mandela.

There is one clear resounding message when it comes to leadership in all seven sides of leadership and that is that a real leader leads by example. Pat Williams believes and writes passionately about the fact that a true leader leads with a servants heart and by example…that the most successful companies and organisations in our world today are led by leaders who model what a servant leader really is.

Successful leadership starts at the top and then works its way down through the ranks of the employees of the entire company or organisation. In short, an effective leader talks the walk and walks the walk themselves and as they do this, then the people they lead will follow them. And it needs to be noted that as goes the leader…so goes the company or organisation.

 

Richard Branson’s top 10 tips for success

Richard Branson left school at the age of 16 and set up Student Magazine with one of his friends. He went on to start Virgin Records in the 1970s and is the founder of the Virgin Group. In the 1980s he formed Virgin Atlantic airline and the 1990s saw the arrival of Virgin Mobile and Virgin Trains.

He is one of the most successful businessmen in the UK and an icon of entrepreneurship. His latest project is Virgin Galactic, which he hopes will one day become a space tourism company.

Here are his Top Ten Tips for success that all Gazelles companies can learn from:

1. Follow your dreams and just do it

Follow your dreams, get involved in life, in the things that interest you. If you are going to create a business, make sure it is your hobby, your passion or something that you really enjoy.

You will live a much better life that way. Don’t just set out to do something for the sake of making money.

I think lots of people have lots of great ideas, but very few people actually go out and try to put them into practice.

There are lots of people who think that somebody must have done that before, or you’ll never raise the money or you shouldn’t take a risk in life.

It’s the people who say I’m just going to do it, that end up having a chance of having a much more exciting and rewarding life.

For his Student Magazine Branson wrote a lot of letters to celebrities and managed to get many of them to agree to be interviewed

2. Make a positive difference and do some good

The first thing to do if you want to become an entrepreneur is basically to have an idea that is going to make a positive difference to other people’s lives. A business is simply that.

If you’re running a business you are in a position where you can make a hell of a difference in this world.

I also think it’s great for the staff of a company that they can feel good about a company that is actually getting out there and doing good.

3. Believe in your ideas and be the best

You definitely need to believe in your idea. There’s really no point in doing something in life unless people feel really good about it and proud about it. You’ve got to have passion for it and you’ve got to be able to inspire other people to have a passion for it too.

If an idea is a good idea you should be able to pitch it in two or three sentences and two or three sentences fit very neatly on the back of an envelope.

There was no point creating a new airline unless it was going to be palpably better than every other airline in the world, you’ve got to make sure that every aspect of what you do is better than the competition.

Branson’s record business started out as a mail order company

4. Have fun and look after your team

I 100% believe that it’s important to have fun and if you’re not having fun anymore, it might be time to move on. You should have fun from the top down and create the kind of environment that’s pleasant to work in.

Make sure that you’ve got the kinds of people running your companies who genuinely care about people, who look for the best in people and who praise and don’t criticise.

People are not that unlike flowers. If a flower is watered it flourishes and if a flower is not watered it dries up and dies and I think the same applies to people.

5. Don’t give up

It’s extremely important not to give up. There have been situations in my adventures, like crossing the pacific in a balloon, where the odds were stacked very heavily against us surviving.

Being an entrepreneur is not that dissimilar to being an adventurer. You have plenty of situations where your back is right up against a wall and you’ve just got to work day and night to make sure you overcome the difficulties a particular company finds itself in. Brush yourself down the next day and move on into something else.

I think I’m reasonably good at dealing with failure and not letting it get me down for more than an hour or two as long as I put everything I can into avoiding it.

Branson arrived on Necker Island in 1989 hanging from the bottom of a helicopter to marry his wife Joan Templeton

6. Make lots of lists and keep setting yourself new challenges

I make copious lists because I think it’s the little details that make for an exceptional company over an average company. Details are very important and I think it’s important to keep setting yourself new challenges and targets.

I do believe that the first of the year is a good time to write down your goals for the year. Unless you actually organise yourself and write down the kinds of things you want to achieve, there’s a danger that as time slips by, you don’t achieve a lot.

7. Spend time with your family and learn to delegate

One of the early things you have to do as an entrepreneur is learn the art of delegation. Find people who are better than you to run the companies on a day-to-day basis, freeing yourself up to think about the bigger picture and spend time with your family.

That’s very important, especially if you’ve got children, they are what’s going to be left when you’re gone.

I know I’m a good entrepreneur, but I’m not sure that I’d be a very good manager and there is a difference. My mind is always thinking ahead and wanting to create new things.

I just think once I’ve set something up, it’s better if someone else runs it. I can dive in and out and be a pain occasionally, but the day-to-day business is better for somebody else to do.

Branson has two children Holly and Sam

8. Try turning off the TV and get out there and do things

My mum brought us up very much to get out there and do things, don’t watch other people do things, and don’t watch television. I think that was a good way of bringing up kids. With my own kids, we’ve spent quite a lot of time in the Caribbean and we never watch television there.

I think I am capable of switching off on Necker Island which is where we sort of pull up the drawbridge. But what I’m doing I see as so fascinating, so rewarding, so interesting that I don’t ever really want to switch off too much because I find myself in such a wonderful, challenging position that I don’t want to waste that position and there are just so many important challenges going on.

9. When people say bad things about you, just prove them wrong

There are people who hang onto the coat tails of successful people and try to sell a few books on the back of their name. It’s unpleasant but you know that if you sue them or kick up a fuss, all it will do is publicise the book. So I’ve had to learn the art of ignoring people like that.

I think the best thing to do is just to prove them wrong in every single way. This particular book, (Branson: Behind the Mask by Tom Bower), says that our spaceship programme is a white elephant, later this year we will prove them wrong.

Branson stands in front of a large photo of his SpaceShipTwo – the commercial spaceship is undergoing tests in California’s Mojave Desert

10. Do what you love and have a sofa in the kitchen

You only live one life, so I would do the thing that you are going to enjoy. When life boils down, this might sound like a little much coming from me, I do have my own little island in the Caribbean, but when we are on that island, we tend to just live in the kitchen.

The truth is, so long as you’ve got a kitchen which has space for a sofa, and a bedroom, and a partner that you love, you don’t necessarily need the add-ons in life.

Then, if you’re doing something that really interests you, it will result in a much more enjoyable life rather than just doing something for the sake of making money.

Turning Followers into Leaders – A new model of Leadership

Back in the spring of 2013 , I was lucky enough to hear David Marquet deliver a keynote on Leadership at the Fortune Summit in Orlando. David was the captain of the Santa Fe which was the poorest performing Sub in the US fleet until his command.  Adopting a Leadership philosophy that was about creating Leaders and not Followers across the whole team, he Turned the Ship around to be the best performing Sub in the US navy .

His book Turn the ship Around has been recognised by many critics as one of the top 5 Leaderships books ever written. Below is an excerpt from a recent Blog highlighting his thoughts around turning followers into Leaders that we can all learn about and incorporate into our businesses.

When I took command of the USS Santa Fe, I knew things had to change.  The methods used before me had led to low re-enlistment rates, poor scores on evaluations, low morale, and a reputation as a “bad ship.”

When I took a hard look at what was causing such poor performance, I expected to uncover a list of tasks or steps that could be taken to right the wrongs and get the ship back on track.  Instead, I unveiled a far deeper problem that would prove to be much more difficult to tackle, but far more effective and rewarding than the completion of any checklist.

What I realised was that the leadership model we were operating under was ineffective and painfully outdated.  My Naval Academy leadership book told me the following about being a leader:

Leadership is the art, science, or gift by which a person is enabled and privileged to direct the thoughts, plans, and actions of others in such a manner as to obtain and command their obedience, their confidence, their respect, and their loyal cooperation.[1]

In other words, leadership in the navy, and in most organisations across all types of industries, is about controlling people.  This emphasis on control divides the world into two groups of people:  leaders and followers.  Most of what we study, learn, and practice in terms of leadership today follows this leader-follower structure.

This model is pervasive.  It has been with us for a very long time.  We can see this structure depicted in Western epics such as The Illiad and Beowulf and in popular novels and movies, such as Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander.

Why is this model so prevalent?  People can accomplish a tremendous amount through the leader-follower model, that’s why!  We only have to look to history to see the effectiveness of this structure.  The development of farming, the building of the pyramids in Egypt, and the factories built during the Industrial Revolution were all possible because of this model.  It generated tremendous wealth for the leaders and the followers were better off, too.  It is exactly because the leader-follower way of doing business is so successful that is both so appealing and so hard to give up.

So, what’s the problem you ask?  Why should we stray from something that has been proven over time to be highly successful?  This model developed during a time when mankind’s primary work was physical and therefore, it is optimised for extracting physical work from humans.  Our modern world doesn’t operate this way, though.  The most important work we do today is cognitive.  A structure developed for physical work isn’t optimal for intellectual work.

People who are treated as followers have limited decision-making authority and little incentive to give the utmost of their intellect, energy, and passion.  Those who take orders usually run at half speed, underutilising their imagination and initiative.  While this doesn’t matter much for rowing a trireme, it’s everything for operating a nuclear-powered submarine.

This is a recognised limitation of the leader-follower model.  What I instituted on the USS Santa Fe was a leader-leader model and it changed everything.  It can work in your organisation, too.

There is much to learn from David Marquet’s Leader- Leader model, for more information you can go to his website: http://davidmarquet.com/

Maximising productivity in your work force – A case study from The Container Store

The Container Store employs a core business philosophy that one great person’s productivity equals that of three  average people’s productivity. They go to great lengths to hire the right people that will live up to this philosophy. 

With that belief they have set up their business model to attract, recruit, train and retain the very top talent.  The case study below sets out the key facts and some critical learnings if you want to outperform your competition and drive long term business growth.

Key Facts:

•As of March 2012, they had 52 stores in the USA, coast to coast and corner to corner – with more on the way.

•They employ over 4,000 employees system-wide.

•All applicants go through as many as 9 interviews before they are hired.

•The company only hires the top 3% of all applicants.

•They now offer 260 hours of training to each associate – 30x the retail industry average.

•The overall compensation averages $46K for each associate, plus medical and other benefits – considerably higher ( Often twice more than their benchmark competitive retailers.)

•They place a greater emphasis on their People than they do even on their Customers, knowing if they take care of their People first, their Customers will be extremely well-served.

•Their People strategy is themed as “Conscious Capitalism” – and they consider it their “Successful Profit Strategy.”

One of their Core Competencies is Customer Service – so they hire people who are self-motivated, team oriented and have a passion for serving their customers.

As a result of this compensation strategy, they work very closely and collaboratively in teams to solve customers’ challenges and help them meet their objectives.

The case study sets out a company that firmly believes that their People are their most important asset.  They understand their numbers and the fact that through paying often more than double their competitors salaries they achieve over 3 times the industry average in productivity and sales per square foot.

Since the original documentation of this story with The Container Store, they were very, very successful – SO successful, in fact, that in 2007 they were sold to a private equity firm at a top-dollar, premium price.

Their strategy of fewer people, paid more, with a lower total wage cost helped them achieve this milestone.