A beautiful example of quality leadership

I’ve talked quite a bit recently about the importance of SME owners looking after their team members as possibly the most significant thing to focus on when either growing or stabilising a business. Quite by chance I was talking to a prospective client today and what emerged was a beautiful example of what I’ve been on about. This business is looking to grow exponentially and have a detailed strategic plan for how they are going to achieve it. The plan is complex, multi-faceted and very ambitious.

OK, so far, so normal. But here is where they made a critical decision about what it will take to get where they want to go. Rather than diving in straight away with the lure of new revenue and new profit, they stood back and considered that to achieve big and bold goals, they would need a team capable of making it all happen.

Now, this business has been around for more than 20 years, so change doesn’t always come easy to well established businesses that are already doing well. The old maxim of “don’t change it if it ain’t broke” doesn’t apply when you’re looking for transformation. Before doing anything, they looked at the team, from senior management to people on the “shop floor” and recognised that the current structure wasn’t going to support the plan.

Comprehensive change was undertaken, from the selection of several senior managers to lead the change process, to changing the nature of the team from one dominated by contractors to one almost exclusively made up of employed people.

Why? They wanted the dynamism of new fresh blood at the top with new skills for the road ahead and a team bound in and committed to the journey, something that contractors with the best will in the world can’t match.

So they delayed the project until they had the people in place, lined up in the same direction and fully informed of what the expectations were and just as importantly, what the rewards would be from success.

This might seem like a story that doesn’t need telling because it just makes sense, right? Well maybe, but in my experience over many decades, an awful lot of SMEs (and even worse in corporates) don’t do this. They get so focused on the prize that they don’t ensure they’ve got the right engine to drive it.

I’ve seen enough in my time to be genuinely excited about what these guys achieve and I hope to be part of their journey.

Want to discuss how to prepare your business for major growth? Let’s talk. john.luxton@regenerationhq.co.nz +64 275 665 682 www.regenerationhq.co.nz