Many companies already possess
the means to turbocharge their sales, break out of industry molds and capture new markets with innovative products and services. These powerful catalysts often exist deep within an organization, hidden and untapped by corporate leadership.
How to identify and nurture these catalyst managers inside your company, who have the capacity to be "growth leaders" is important to the future success of the enterprise. These managers have the vision and creative spark that most employees would never even think of. They know the rules but also know how to bend them by taking risks. They make an effort to avoid the corporate bureaucracy without antagonizing it.
Growth leaders produce above average growth in mature organizations and markets creating better value for customers. They achieve this often despite corporate oversight as much as because of it. While some individuals figure out how to crack the growth code on their own with the help of a leadership coach or mentor, senior executives have more to learn about how to recognize and encourage such managers.
Growth leaders think like entrepreneurs. They're not averse to gathering data and conducting studies, but they don't rely completely on data to tell them about important market developments. They thrive on accepting challenges, taking action and getting immediate results. These positive traits tend to spread among their direct-reports and reinforce one another in chasing opportunities. Although growth leaders embrace new ventures, they minimize risk wherever possible. However, they take action first and tend to ask for forgiveness afterward...when their decision results in less than expected success.
These growth catalysts base their success on thoughtful exploration of customers' needs than on dry market data. They seek detailed information about individual customers, instead of just seeing them as data points in market research reports.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2008, www.WSJ.com/BusinessInsight