THRIVE - Coaching and Consulting

Leading at the Speed of Growth, Journey from Entrepreneur to CEO
by Katherine Catlin & Jana Matthews

Who Should Read

President/CEOs and executive leaders of start-up firms, firms going through significant change and growth, and/or firms struggling with how to mature the organization from a start-up to a "real" company.

Brief Commentary

Those of us involved in start-up and growing entrepreneurial firms will quickly identify with the challenges this book presents. One of my CEO clients commented, "I could have written this book, it is that apropos to where we are." This book is an excellent tool to generate discussion among top leaders to help them identify their current level of organizational maturity and the steps they need to take to go to the next level. A very quick and easy read.

Book Summary

The authors do a brilliant job of simplifying and outlining the four key stages of organizational growth: Start-Up, Initial Growth, Rapid Growth, and Continuous Growth. In conjunction with defining the characteristics of each stage (which draw from real-life experiences of entrepreneurs in each particular stage), the evolution of the CEO’s role is also described. For each stage, the authors provide guidance to CEO’s about how and when to change their roles, simple tips about how to recognize the stage you are in, and practical tools that will assist the CEO in leading the organization appropriately.

Here's a summary of each stage:

Start-Up

Focus of this stage is on identifying the product or service the organization will offer, as well as the value in the market
CEO's role in this stage is often the primary doer and decision-maker

Initial Growth

Focus of this stage is on driving sales, capturing market share and growing revenues
There's an intense focus on success
Environment is often highly flexible and fast, sometimes chaotic
CEO's role in this stage is one of setting the direction and delegating responsibility

Rapid Growth

Focus of this stage is to become the market leader
Lots of new people being added to the organization with the increasing challenge of assimilating them into the organization
Alignment within the organizational structure is critical as the infrastructure grows and people's roles change
CEO's role in this stage is one of team builder, coach, planner, and communicator as he/she develops a strong self-managing executive team

Continuous Growth

Focus of this stage is to dominate the industry by finding new markets and niches in current market, expanding product lines, and branding as leaders in industry
More creative growth strategies must be employed than in prior stages
Organization is significantly larger and more complex - requires exceptional alignment
CEO's role is one of change catalyst, organization builder, strategic innovator and chief of culture, while the executive team operates as a true self-managed team

To enable healthy growth within an organization, the authors describe a process they call the "Profit Spiral" which outlines six critical elements in any organizational plan:

Market and customer focus
Mission and values
Vision and objectives
Strategies and plans
Structure and processes
Innovative culture

Identifying a consensus among the leadership team on these six elements, the authors maintain, is critical for continuing growth and success of the business.

I want to highlight several key recommendations that jumped out at me for executives leading in this kind of growth environment:

You must have an intense focus on internal communication to ensure understanding and alignment within the organization - you simply cannot over-communicate (it's not possible)
You must focus on hiring and retaining awesome people
The executive team is a model for other teams within the organization - getting it right at the top will drive success

Not a lot of new material in the recommendations, but as my mom always told me, "Easier said than done." To truly change behaviors and intensely focus on the right things that drive success are the challenges every CEO and executive team must overcome.

Overall, the simplicity with which the authors present the material, in my view, is the mastery of this book. In 126 short pages (diagrams and all) they capture the key challenges anyone at the top faces in a growing organization, and they present pragmatic ways of working through those challenges. This is a great read for an executive team, but allow plenty of time for good discussion about where you are as an organization, how you see your roles evolving, and what you need to do differently to achieve healthy growth.