How to have success in business
How to have success in business 
Photo depicts a business presentation held at the home base.
“All you need to do is…”, that is what many folks want to hear and at the same time it is the most horrible way describing how to get there. Very rarely does “easy” equal “right” or long term sustainable. A while back I was invited holding a guest lecture at a Philly university about how our company mapped success. It had been anything but easy.
First I described our current condition of significant sales, how many people work with us, and the cool cultural items that we offer everyone working with and for us. When I then shared where we had started with our first all-out 7 year strategic plan in 2000 the students were astonished how on Earth we had managed such an extraordinary growth and even more so the business culture we have created around us all the way to construct our LEED Gold business building.
What many business folks forget is that out of a 7 year plan the first 3 to 4 years go into the land just working really hard laying the foundation for future success to be able to occur. That means that many hours of teamwork and collaboration in identifying strategies, goals, and measurements need to be spent. The implementation phase typically takes about twice as long as you may think. When you grow your organization this way, changes are sometimes so dramatic that it is similar to a cultural shift change. Cultural change takes at least 2 to 3 years to form before people start being the change they wanted to see.
But it is all worth it. The one who plans, can enjoy tremendous success. There are no great short cuts. You do need to show up every day through thick and thin. Invite many folks and you increase your chances of sustainable success almost on an exponential scale. The really beautiful thing about this is that this also applies to your personal growth. So, start asking yourself what does success look like in 5 to 7 years from now? What do you think? Mind you that growth is unlikely going to happen on a linear line. Here is a great post by Seth Godin on the S curve growth topic. Plan for a best and worst case scenario – always.
Ralf
