Making Sustainable Scalable

Posted byedstillmanPosted inMy perspective

Have you noticed that traffic is back on the Austin roads, more and more restaurants have wait times for dinner again, and business leaders are preparing for a return to the office this summer.  Many of us have our vaccine shots now, and our sales and marketing reps need to start traveling again. It feels liberating that the isolation is behind us.  So what are you doing to make sustainable scalable (MSS) in the 2nd half of 2021?

Grade or scorecard your organization in MSS with a 1 to 10 ranking. Whatever the number you select, ask yourself why wasn’t it one less than what you wrote down. Simon Sinek shared this years ago at a Vistage Chair conference in Dallas about his teenage daughter and her willingness to clean her bedroom. When asked from a scale of 1 to 10 what was her willingness to clean her room, she said a 3. When Simon asked why wasn’t it a 2, his daughter shared several beliefs that became the benchmark or baseline in moving from a 3 to a 5 to 7 over the summer months.

Measuring scale as a leadership team

What conversations have you and your leadership team had around MSS? Are you looking into new products, new services, adding another branch, expanding your geography? Money is cheap and if you aren’t growing, you are dying. Do you know your ratio’s and how your banker views your company and will measure/evaluate you when you ask for an increase in your LOC or a loan. For the above to have traction, you most likely looking into additional talent.

Build performance results by starting with culture

When interviewing potential new employees, my business owner members lead with culture (who we are, why we are who we are and our successes because of who we are). Some even share who we are not, with the hope that those who don’t see my member as a fit for them move on.

Do you have a structured Onboarding Process?  Mostly like you are scheduling 1st week, 2nd week maybe even 1st month, that said what about writing a personal letter to the spouse or sending a gift box to the family that arrives the first day the new employee reports for work. When onboarding new hires, do you assign one of your BOBs (best of best) to be the mentor. Do you let the mentee and the mentor know that whatever is asked, discussed or shared stays between them. Do you make it safe for the new hire to have someone they can count on to assist them in becoming the best they can be?

Accountability: a key benchmark for business performance

Accountability is a key component in MSS, the benchmark for year-in and year-out performance. If you can’t measure it, don’t do it. Whether KPI’s (key performance indicators) or OKR’s (objectives and key results) each employee from the CEO to the janitorial service reps should have measurable behavior that is accountable to the overall success of the company. Behavior and habits are what matters most. What are your key metrics, both rear-view and forward windshield view of what could we possibly become?  What’s working and what’s not. What’s critical and time sensitive? Are you growing equal to or greater than your rivals, competition, industry?  ROC (rate of change) 3/12 and 12/12 will be a key metric now. Does your association provide YOY data?

Many companies have been focused on defense, managing your fixed costs, RIF’s if needed and securing PPP funds to assist in keeping your BOBs on the payroll. By now you should have gotten rid of your C employees. Now behind us, we should be looking around the corner, focusing on offense and looking for that next opportunity, thus making the sustainable scalable. I wish you all new successes.

Now go take on your day!

Published by edstillman

I grew up in Carlsbad, north San Diego County, lost my dad as a teenager, went into the USAF for four years and hired on with 3M in 1969. Received my AA from Santa Barbara City College, BA and Masters from Redlands University and after 33 plus years, I retired from 3M in 2002. As I look back on my life, I have been creating myself and developing my skill sets to be a business coach and a Vistage Chair. I am president of SEOT, a "personal improvement" consulting firm spending most of my time working with Central Texas executives running small to medium size for-profit companies who are focusing on improving their profitability greater than their competition. My area of interest is assisting senior executives in creating a better balance between business commitments and personal relationships. I also facilatate three leadership labs each consisting of a dozen owners, presidents and CEOs. We meet monthly both in a group setting as well as in a 1-to-1 coaching session. Our focus is to sharpen each others' skills in becoming better leaders, making better decisions and taking ourselves and companies to that next level. Who are we? My members are experienced top executives who recognize that they don’t have all the answers and who actively seek the company of successful peers—both to give and receive insights and ideas. My members mine the 200 plus years of chief executive experience that comes together in our monthly meetings and members are eager to offer their own experience and insights in the process. As a group, we spend our time exploring topics members can't discuss anywhere else. My members have many other places where they can engage in idle, "cocktail party" chatter. Our mission is to provide the setting for discussing the "undiscussable." Where or who can you go to for confidential, honest feedback to assist you in minimizing your personal "Worry List"?