Scaling up: the key to long-term business success
Each year, many books are written about business globally. However, if there is one book we pinpoint as being the backbone of Coraggio Boards, it is definitely Verne Harnish’s Scaling Up: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Written by Harnish and the team at Gazelles, a global executive education and coaching company whose influence spans across six continents, this is a vital business tool for every leader.
Of course, you may have already heard of the book. After all, this book is used by thousands of leaders looking to grow companies right across the world. Its appeal is universal. To summarise the book, Scaling Up sees Harnish and his team sharing the tools and techniques required to build a business capable of dominating an industry. These are the approaches thousands of business leaders have used to help them to navigate their way through the challenges that come with scaling up.
Everyone can benefit from this book and it’s very much written with everyone in mind – from those working on the frontline to senior executives. At Coraggio, we’re big believers in leadership mentoring and a supportive approach to business leadership. There is simply no reason why anyone has to do it alone in business these days.
Scaling Up is arranged around the four decisions all leaders must make in order to create a successful company where everyone within the organisation is engaged, quality word of mouth is doing your marketing and helping to grow your business for you and importantly, profits are being maximised and are on the rise. These four fundamentals are:
1. People
When leading people, you need to establish a set of core values and rules to implement and enforce. Every good business leader knows that people are at the heart of a successful company – when implemented and enforced effectively, an organisation’s core values will steer everyone in the company towards success.
2. Strategy
Real strategy comes down to two key factors:
– The activities you’re planning mattering to and benefiting your customers
– These activities helping you to stand out from the pack and your competition
Scaling Up takes a straight down the line look at how strategy can fail before it’s even begun or been implemented.
3. Execution
You can have the best strategy and team behind you in the world, but if execution is a weakness, it’s going to prevent you from reaching your goals. In this section, Harnish talks about setting a manageable number of priorities, gathering both qualitative and quantitative data to review in order to guide decisions, as well as ensuring everyone involved is kept in the loop. These are the secret ingredients that drive businesses to grow faster.
4. Cash
Managing cashflow is vitally important to any business… running out of cash can spell the end for any company. You really need to pay attention to money coming in and out and think about how every decision you make is going to impact your bottom line.
So why do we think of this book as being the backbone of Coraggio Boards? Essentially, it’s because Harnish and his team refer to the scaling of a business being like climbing a mountain. Expressed in another way: a lot of people dream of conquering Mt.Everest but those who realise their goal, create a plan that enables them to climb the mountain. In business terms, it is those who are prepared with a clear set of rules and a real passion for the journey that lies ahead, who head towards the summit and conquer it.
Coraggio is hosting introductory briefing meetings in both Sydney and Melbourne.These meetings will give you the opportunity to experience the Coraggio way. If you’re interested in learning more about how Coraggio can help you and your business to scale up, secure your spot today. Be aware that places are limited.
