Solving the problem of C players, sustainability tracking & the 5 most common questions about Scaling Up
22 May 2022 Newsletter
“You’re afraid of dying, but how is the way you are living any different from being dead?” Seneca
Hope you’re Thriving!
I’ve had a busy week with interesting meetings and a guest podcast appearance. Let’s jump in.
Acquisitions Anonymous
This week, Kevin Lawrence and I appeared on the Acquisitions Anonymous podcast, the internet’s number 1 podcast about buying and operating small businesses. It was a great chat, with many laughs, and the hosts provided some great questions.
We talked about:
- What is Scaling up?
- What business is it useful for?
- Scaling Up vs. EOS,
- What are predictable issues of Scaling?
- What is the role of a CEO?
- How to hire a CEO?
Listen or watch on the links below:
Solving the problem of C players
Working with a client this week; they have a problem employee. This person isn’t making the numbers, and they don’t align with the company values. When the person transitioned to performance management a few weeks ago, they became troublemaking, vocal and litigious. The perfect combination that every leader wants to avoid!
At the same time, the CEO was reading an early copy of my new book about onboarding and was hit with an epiphany that the job of onboarding is to protect the culture. It prevents the wrong people from permanently getting into the company. Spending between one and four hours with someone and talking with their references is essential and an excellent filter for hiring. But once you have hired someone, you can’t rely on the hiring to ensure that the person successfully fits into your firm.
That’s the job of onboarding. Ultimately, it gives you the best chance of surrounding yourself with a team of A-players who are in the right seat, doing the right things, the right way.
This leader now understands that the immense pain being experienced right now through lawyers probably doesn’t need to be experienced again if they follow a rigorous hiring and onboarding process. It was such a relief and a motivation to implement the 90-day onboarding process outlined in the book.
Sustainability tracking
Recently, I’ve been having more conversations about ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) with leaders – and they are prompting the discussions.
For leaders, if you want to do business with larger firms, it is becoming almost essential to understand ESG, have a policy and priorities related to it, and be able to track your performance. And for many businesses who are ‘mere mortals’, this can seem overwhelming.
This week I came across an interesting article outlining a new Microsoft product to help companies track their sustainability, which comes on the back of Google providing the ability for cloud customers to track their carbon footprint.
These solutions are data-driven and look to help companies collect vital data to understand their environmental impact while finding ways to reduce it over time and meet sustainability goals.
This week on The Growth Whisperers podcast
The 5 most common questions we get about scaling up
What are the most common questions about the Scaling Up framework?
This week Kevin and Brad talk about the most questions that they see time and time again about the Scaling Up operating system.
The questions discussed are:
- How long does it take to complete the One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP)? How often does it need updating?
- How would you get your team to buy into the Scaling Up methods?
- Who on my team should be involved in the Strategic Planning Meetings – my executive team – my whole leadership team?
- What’s the number one thing that blocks companies from Scaling Up?
- Do I need a coach to implement Scaling Up?
Bonus number six
- Which of the ten Rockefeller Habits do you think is most important?
Episode 110 – The Growth Whisperers
Listen to The Growth Whisperers
Apple podcasts
Spotify
Or watch it on YouTube
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Keep Thriving!
Brad Giles
