How Leaders Use Growth Acceleration to Benefit their Business and Their People…
Traditional concepts of business growth no longer fit the mold for today’s businesses. Oftentimes this requires business leaders to break out of their comfort zones to create more value—as things are usually not as they appear. Do not be fooled leaders! While traditional business concepts seem appealingly comfortable, much of the ongoing practices and attitudes that once brought along prosperity are actually counter-intuitive. Things have gotten much more personal, even in this technology-driven world.
As described in further detail at the two-day Growth Acceleration Project development program, the following showcases some of the key techniques that leaders can use to grow modern business as opposed to the traditional concepts of business growth.
Leadership and Perspective
A company is a direct reflection of its owner. It does not get any more straightforward than that. To grow as a company, leaders must strive to improve themselves first if they are to see any trickle-down effect. Leaders must realize that they are the cause that drives each subsequent result.
If you want things to change, you have to be the one to change first. There is a lot of introspection involved here, and leaders must ultimately realize that they are the root cause of all subsequent results and future successes. Leaders must be able to both dream big and inspire their team members to contribute towards the company’s goals through utilizing their team’s unique strengths. They must be both tolerant and consistent with ensuring their teams’ growth alongside their projected goals as a company.
How then, do we go from being the manager who does the job, to being the manager who gets others to do the job—a manager who creates capable people? More often than not, employees – aka internal customers – really want the intangible. Through soft motivational practices – like appreciation, involvement in solutions to problems, and feeling understood by their manager when a personal problem arises – a manager can successfully ensure that employees receive the support they need to function at their best.
Generate Value and Motivate Others
To accelerate growth, one must generate value within themselves and their team. The first step is to take the challenge and ask yourself a few hard-hitting business questions like: What are you not appropriately addressing within your company? Or What are the ambitious projects that you continue to postpone? Perhaps these questions may both frighten and excite you—but its time to take action. Face your challenges head on and stop consuming value by inefficiently stressing out about the problems that in all reality you can not only take on—but excel at.
Team development is essential here also. It is therefore up to the leader to not only understand that team members are a collection of capable individuals, but to know that it is the energy and camaraderie they have with one another that drives and gives strength to the group. By appreciating each person for their unique abilities, we can leverage each strength in the acceleration of growth.
Be the Cause
To further develop prosperous teams, leaders must see themselves as the cause of the performance of employees. Oftentimes leaders attempt to exert their influence through responsibility, their knowledge and ability, and control. The issue herein, however, lies in the ability of the leader to decide where the responsibility falls when a problem arises. If they do not understand that they themselves are the cause—the situation will control them.
When faced with a problem or with a disappointing situation, we can consider ourselves either the cause or the effect. When we consider ourselves to be the effect, our thoughts or explanations have someone else at the helm of our circumstances or as the subjects of what happened. Examples of this include: He does not understand or the market is slow. Here, leaders who think that external controls are the cause of all problems will not be successful. Neither will those who see themselves as the cause for their actions but unwilling to accept blame for others’ mistakes. The leader who is successful will exhibit internal control and be a global influencer, for they see themselves as the cause of all actions and that of others’ as well.
Indeed, you as the leader are the one determining your people productivity and motivation. Even if you still do not know how… YOU are the cause!
Set Goals and Dream Big
If you are not really set in pursuing a goal, your brain will not show you all the opportunities that exist to make real progress. If you do not place yourself as the protagonist of your life and set clear – and written – goals in life, it is life that is controlling you and not vice versa.
But what is a goal exactly? It is a precise description of a want or a need that does not exist at the moment but we wish to make it happen—in other words, a dream. A leader HAS to dream, as the emotional level that you have today is the best predictor of tomorrow’s success.
So, leaders, if you would like to drive change and accelerate growth within your company, remember that—you are the cause and the company mirrors the owner. The emotional level you have today is the best predictor of tomorrow’s success. Inspire your people and do not stop dreaming!
Article By Sadek El-Assaad, CEO of Zeder Group
