Friday's Growth
Inspiration

Finding yourself challenged?

Some time back, we spoke about how growth has become a difficult term around the executive table. One feels somewhat out of place to propose that in the midst of so much uncertainty and pain, we should be focusing on growth. However, this is changing.

We have come to realise that growth is essential to becoming sustainable. Growth that is conscious and purpose-led can help build resilience. Developing a platform for growth in an organisation can help challenge in-grained paradigms and long-held practices. It helps us develop both an outward aspiration e.g. markets we would like to grow into, and an inward aspiration e.g. what do we want to transform, to become.

Let me ask you, what is the internal aspiration of your organisation, during the recovery? Can we name it, can we give it a shape? Would you agree on it, if we had to ask several of your fellow leaders the same?

A growth orientation is also helpful to executing our aspirations at greater speed. It can help bring together parties who often compete or may be wary of one another, to collaborate and contribute. Done well, it provides us an opportunity to build forward, with a clear picture of how we could grow and prosper differently.

In instances where growth seems to have disappeared for an organisation, we found that it has simply shifted to new places. These are often uncomfortable places, challenging our business model and may even threaten relationships that we have built over a long period of time. This is a phenomenon we see not only in consumer markets but in B2B settings too.

To use Prof. Rita McGrath’s words, a growth orientation guides choices, and making clear and deliberate choices in today’s environment is more important than ever.

Putting growth back onto the executive agenda simply means we have chosen a different lens to test our assumptions and capabilities, we have chosen to challenge how our organisations work and what outcomes we strive towards. We have chosen to venture into uncomfortable spaces.

Feeling challenged? That is truly a good thing…

Have a good weekend everyone!

Saar Ben-Attar (A Connector Beyond Limits)

Useful Links:

Our Manifesto 2.0

Youtube: Dr Leila Fourie CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is on the Soundbite

"Growth has not disappeared. It has shifted to uncomfortable places."

Ivan Moroke CEO of Kantar South Africa

Upcoming podcast ePISODE

In our next special edition, and in celebrating our 5-year anniversary, we swap seats and have Saar Ben-Attar in our studio. Not to interview this time but to answer questions – posed by our team, partners and clients. It’s the uncut version, no holding back…as we like to call it, being ‘brutally honest’ about our work and our Tribe.

By subscribing to our Podcast series, you will receive notice as this and new episodes air.

hiddengrowthchampions.podbean.com

GOING 'OFF-SCRIPT'

For every organisation we have worked with, our work always starts with and is centered around an individual who starts a movement, who wants to change the status quo, who sees things clearly.

The kind of clarity that is generated out of conversations with these individuals, is truly inspiring.