The Root Reason Most Companies Struggle with Growth & Why Some Don’t Struggle at All
What we’ll cover in this article:
• The root problem with lagging growth
• The most important factor inside any organization
• Do what we do, not what we say
• Bringing it all together
• Practical next steps for growth
Underneath all of the symptoms, there is always a root cause to a problem. We see this in every part of our lives. If we have the fortitude to seek out a solution to understand at a deeper level, we can identify the root issue that is surfacing all other issues. But generally we don’t. This is true in business and our personal lives. We are all guilty of dealing with difficult surface level issues everyday just so we don’t have to come to grips with the real problem.
As you take in this information, you’ll see that a lot of it won’t be completely new. That’s not the point here. The goal of sharing this is to get you to question whether you believe it enough to take action and become a company that ceases to struggle with growth.
With that said, let’s jump directly to the answer and work backwards from there.
The Root Problem with Lagging Growth
The underlying psychological reason any company lags in growth is a lack of trust.
Let’s see why.
At the core of all healthy human relationships is trust. Why do some children grow up to have healthy relationships and some don’t? It’s because they have a healthy relationship with their parents. That healthy relationship can only exist because it is built on trust.
A feeling of stability and security comes from the creation of trust between two people.
Trust is the intangible component that lives right in front of our face but isn’t directly discussed or addressed, unless it has broken down.
We are constantly checking in with our trust level when dealing with other people. This cannot be understated and cannot be overlooked.
Do you believe this is true? If so, let’s build on this as we map this idea to lagging growth.
The Most Important Factor Inside Any Organization
If you haven’t spent a lot of time learning about culture, let me say that it is a vast place to discover. From an anthropological standpoint, culture takes the trust component of relationships and packages it up in outward facing accoutrements and/or internal beliefs. People demonstrate their trust in a myriad of ways, ranging from completely healthy and productive (e.g. community running groups) to unbelievably negative and destructive (e.g. lawless gangs).
There is a culture that has been building inside your company for as long as you have been in business. People have a natural need to establish trust with one another individually and corporately.
If there has not been a plan to create and nurture their people with an intention of building a particular type of culture, the people will do it themselves.
When this happens, there is no true north and therefore no standard to which everyone can map their expectations and behavior. This all stems from an undercurrent of distrust.
If you have paid attention to the culture you are nurturing inside your company, you can attest that it is hard work!
Generally speaking, this is where most CEOs and business leaders don’t spend enough time and don’t think it is an important use of their time.
Here’s a quick exercise to combat that mindset. When you think of companies that are world class in their industry and don’t have a problem with growth, which companies come to mind? Now, how many of those companies are built around culture?
It’s really that simple. Companies that focus on creating a thriving culture don’t have problems with growth. People are naturally attracted to being part of what they are doing and where they are going.
If we know people need a place for trust to live in order to be healthy, why aren’t leaders more focused on culture?
Let’s take this train of thought one step further.
At a high level, let’s look at how you establish a healthy culture inside your company. These are just a few of the surface level ways to approach it:
Systems
When there is a defined way of doing something, including sales and marketing, it becomes more enjoyable for the person doing it. The task or role becomes measurable, which allows a person to know if they are making progress or not.
Accountability at Every Level
If systems are in place and work can be measured, naturally accountability can be ushered in. But this only works if everyone is participating. If leadership is demonstrating that they are being held accountable inside their role, their teams are going to be much more likely to accept increased accountability in their role.
Remember, trust is the root. If it is fostered, it will create growth.
Transparency
Going hand in hand with accountability, transparency has to start at the top. Making sure everyone can see why you are making certain important decisions eliminates any kind of trust issues that may form around the unknown for your team.
Support
Do your people feel supported individually in their roles and in their teams? A good way to find out is to ask them. A great way to build trust is to affirm people when they are doing well and give them all the tools they need to be successful. If they are lacking a necessary resource and due to external circumstances you can’t give it to them, don’t let that be a barrier to progress. Instead, get creative and help them find alternative solutions.
Space to Fail
Especially in smaller organizations, resources can be lacking. This is where giving your team the space to fail can create wonderful opportunities for growth. When you extend your trust to someone in their role, asking them to get creative and find a solution, with your full support if they fail, you will gain an immense amount of trust. And this will permeate your culture, creating a place of innovation, acted-on ingenuity and creativity. This creates growth.
Do What We Do, Not What We Say
Let’s recap.
Humans need trust to operate in healthy relationships.
Trust is an essential component in cultures.
Culture can be created and there are surface level ways of doing it.
The final layer is brand.
Your prospects and clients are human. Prospects need to trust your team in order to move forward. Clients need to continually confirm that trust to stay engaged.
From the very first interaction, prospects are able to get a sense for how much they should trust you in a very short period of time. There are many surface level red flags that can paint the picture for a client on what kind of culture you have - positive or negative (e.g. pushy, late to meetings, unorganized/unprepared or thinking ahead, knowledgeable, resourceful, giving, etc).
The trust a prospect or client will or will not have with you is determined by your brand. But what is a brand anyway?
I have a simple philosophy on the long debated over concept of brand. A company’s brand is made up of its culture.
Again, go back to those top 3 or 4 companies that came to mind above. When you interact with their people, you get their brand. Some of them have great products, which is very important. But consider this - a computer cannot impute its value without a person demonstrating it or imputing a belief on it. People need to be connected to their purchases now more than ever. A chicken sandwich can only take a company so far. They need world class customer service and an insatiable drive to satisfy the customer to create a following.
The product can only take you so far until the people have to carry you.
Brand is just the clothes your people and company wear that were designed by your culture. If you want to impact your brand, make an impact in your culture.
Bringing it All Together
So let’s wrap this all up.
Do you believe what you’ve just read?
If so, you believe that trust is innate and necessary in every aspect of running and growing a business.
You believe trust is demonstrated one way or another in the culture that is being bred inside your organization.
You believe that brand is the outward manifestation of your culture.
If you believe these things, now it’s about acting on those beliefs and setting things in motion to foster trust and create growth long term.
Practical next steps for growth:
Review your systems for every role. Are they efficient, can they be measured and are they supporting the people using them?
Ask your teams where they feel supported and what areas could be improved to give them more ownership over their work.
Are you being clear and transparent with the direction you are leading your teams? Do you need to create more mechanisms for embracing transparency and accountability?
Are your people taking risks inside their roles and failing? If not, they may not feel like they have the space to fail.
If you want to speak further about ideas for growth, reach out to us on our contact page and let’s schedule a time to talk.