I am regularly asked, ‘what is the secret ingredient to building a sustainable growth business?’
My answer is always the same…all things being equal, it is about having the right people doing the right thing.
The reality is that there are so many decisions to be made and things to do that it’s not feasible to stay on top of everything all by yourself. It’s also really important to be clear on what you are good at, and what you aren’t, and to plug the gaps with competent, like-minded people.
To help you think about this in the context of your business, I like to use Jim Collins’s analogy from his fantastic book ‘Good to Great’.
Jim says that your business is like a bus:
- Some of the seats on the bus may be empty – current or future vacancies
- Some seats may have two or more people sitting on them – areas of duplication
- Some seats may have the wrong person sitting on that particular seat – square pegs in round holes
- And some passengers really shouldn’t be on the bus at all.
If you want to turn your business into something special one day, you really can’t do it by yourself. Your focus should be on getting your bus in the best possible position to outclass your competitors, delight your customers and to support the company vision and culture. So, what does your bus look like?
