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THE
CULT OF GROWTH
By Patrick G. Kedziora
Ever wonder how little
companies grow to be big companies? Ever wonder
how a competitor is always just slightly ahead
of you - all the time? Ever wonder what am I
going to do next with my business?
Successful companies
all have certain character traits. It's in their
corporate culture: they innovate, they change,
they adapt. If one thing doesn't work, they try
something new. They grow. Not just their
revenues, but they grow their culture, their
character. Just like a person, they grow
stronger, more fit and more able to compete.
I suggest that any
company can do the same. It has to come from the
heart. You have to want to grow and you have to
tell everyone in your company to join you in
your quest for growth. Lead your people to grow
as individuals, lead them to grow new products,
lead them to grow new customers.
Ask yourself, what is
my company culture. An easy way to find out is
to ask your employees and your customers to
define your company as a person. I remember
meeting the senior executives of a very large
aluminum company and I was trying to get my
hands around their business. So I asked them
"If your company was a person what kind of
person would it be?" And they said
"we're a farmer" and that clinched it.
They just planted new seeds (new aluminum
factories) and sometimes they would have a good
crop (high prices) and often times not (low
prices). The point being that they let the
markets whip them around. They didn't
proactively try to shape the business. They just
let things happen to them. Not a recipe for
growth.
Take Microsoft as
another example. They live growth, new products,
new features, new markets. They are practically
impossible to stop. It's in their culture. It's
their character.
Find your culture,
define it, shape it and set your company on
fire. Develop a Cult of Growth.
Patrick G. Kedziora
is a Senior Managing Partner with Growth
Advisors Inc., a multi-industry growth advisory
firm based in South Florida. More information
can be found at www.GrowthAdvisorsInc.com
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