The Stages of Growth™️ Methodology

A week ago, I published an educational series of articles on The Stages of Growth™️, where I covered what the top priority for the organization should be, mentioned some of the key objectives for the organization, highlighted typical challenges the orgnaization would face and what blend of leadership styles the business leader should use to manage the organization.

In this article, I’m going drill-down into all the elements of the methodology that occur within a Stage, that helps business leaders and their teams better understand the key drivers which will impact the organization at that Stage.

There are individual Stage Cards for each Stage, which all have specific attributes, dimensions and anthems specific to that Stage, as is illustrated below:

So let’s look at each of these in more detail to understand what information the business leader has at hand

The Attributes

The attributes are as follows:

• Stage Number and Stage Name as identifiers.
• The Number of Employees range that define that Stage.
• Number of Mangers and Executives ideal for that Stage.

The Dimensions

The dimensions are as follows:

• Gates of Focus which prioritizes the order of focus on People, Profit and Process.
• 5 Classic Challenges the organization will face in that Stage, of which there are 24, that I’ll cover in a separate article.
• Builder – Protector Ratio which measures the overall organizational mindset as it relates to the level of Confidence and Caution within the company.
• Leadership Style Blend which is a blend of primary, secondary and tertiary styles from 6 leadership styles, namely Affiliative, Coaching, Commanding, Democratic, Pacesetting and Visionary.
• Face of the Leader which determines how a leader should ideally split their time between being a Visionary, a Manager and a Specialist.
• Modality which is the role that each layer of the organization – Executive, Management, and Staff plays with respect to the overall organization, with each being either being Dominant, Supportive or Facilitative.
• 6 Non-negotiable Rules, divided into the 6 foundational areas of business, which must grow proportionately between Business Development, Business Model & Plan, Finance, Operations, Vision Values Leadership and Workplace Community. If these are not addressed at each Stage, they will become “baggage” as the company grows, and hinder growth and performance.
• Building Blocks that will help build the necessary capabilities in Infrastructure, Leadership and Culture to move the company forward.
• The number of employees range that defines when the organization will go through a Transition Zone. There are 2 zones, the Flood Zone when the company gets overwhelmed, and the Wind Tunnel Zone where what worked in the past is longer suitable and processes, methods, tools, structures – stop working.

The Stage Anthem

The Stage Anthem applies to how the leader should think about their organization, here is the anthem for Stage 1 as an example:

“I’m the leader of a Stage 1 company. We are in the start-up stage, where creating a cohesive, cooperative team is a priority. When adding to the team, I need to be looking for generalists who can wear multiple hats that fit well with the team and embrace our confident, builder mindset. We operate in a state of constant chaos. I need to embrace this environment, rather than try to harness it, developing processes only where it is necessary. We need to identify our 3 Revenue Groups and focus on selling the 2-3 products/services that have the best margins. Limited capital is a challenge, so I must remain focused on improving sales and increasing profit. Being able to generate, track, and preserve cash is critical to moving through this stage. I need to regularly meet with my employees on an individual basis to establish a feedback loop. My business needs me to be a leader that guides the team with a strong vision, focuses on people’s potential, and takes charge to lead the organization through chaos.”

Hopefully this gives you a good idea of the type of information that The Stages of Growth™️ Methodology makes available to business leaders at every stage of their company’s growth.

I will be holding a free online masterclass towards the middle of January 2021, where I will do a deep dive into all the attributes, dimensions and anthems, which will give attendees absolute clarity on the entire methodology.

So, if you’re a business leader that finds this of interest, feel free to send me an email at [email protected], expressing your interest to attend and stating the number of employees you currently have. I will then put you on the waiting list and send you details closer to the time. Plus, as a free gift, I will send you your Stage Card which you can go over before you attend the workshop.