Working with growth-focused companies, we see a recurring theme: they achieve significant growth then stall because their infrastructure can’t keep up. Their revenue doesn’t match the structure and processes to sustain. We have seen $100 million organizations constrained by a $30 million infrastructure. Think about your young son wearing your suit – it doesn’t quite fit yet. He needs “time” to fill-out the suit. We call this “Stretching!”

Everyone benefits from Stretching

Most organizations need to play catch-up after significant revenue growth. This typically means:

  • Infrastructure investment
  • Critical strategic hires that need expertise (Talent management and Marketing are two we see a lot.)
  • Building capacity for strategy

These are critical so you don’t “break” good people, especially now! In a fast growth environment, we are often too busy covering to stop and invest. While this may work for a while, it is NOT sustainable. Soon you will see cracks in the foundation: missed customer expectations, employee burnout, and frustrating process workarounds that take too long.

Think differently about the work and your offerings

Another way to consider “stretching” to scale is to think differently about the work and your offerings. For example, our company’s goal is to impact more people and expand our reach so “More People Enjoy the Next Level of Growth,” which is our Purpose. Currently we are constrained by the number of clients we can serve. We believe our growth culture model of Healthy Leaders, Winning Strategies, and High Performing Teams can benefit many organizations.  And since we want to Scale, first we need to Stretch. As a result, we have been investing in “new” products with online training and books to help us move from “hours” to “products.”

For great insights on scaling, I recommend reading Productize by our friend and newly-minted author, Eisha Armstrong.

Speaking of new authors, we have three books in the pipeline

Leadership Fusion (publishing May 2022). This is a compilation of regional leadership experts sharing their knowledge. Cyndi wrote a chapter on her passion for “Healthy Leadership,” and I reinforced the need for “Winning Strategy.” 

Strategy in Motion (publishing August 2022). For years, I have been working on a playbook that explains how mid-size companies can build a “Winning Strategy.” Look for a launch party invitation this fall. 😊

Healthy Leadership (publishing 2023). How can you elevate your leadership and interactions with others? Cyndi unlocks the mysteries of our “knee-jerk” behaviors and provides tools to support productive and empowering interactions.