Strong performance habits are a game-changer. Allow me to share a case study from one of our clients: They were private equity-funded and had clear growth goals and financial targets that the CEO and executive team had committed to. They were doing well, they were excited, and they were hitting their numbers! And then, suddenly, they started running into challenges.
These challenges happen when a company grows past a certain point–and in our client’s case, it was $50 million. They started to miss deadlines, leading to customer disappointment. This problem originated from missed hand-offs between departments. They had unintentionally begun working in silos. When one department finishes its part of a project and hands it off to the next department, the next department won’t be ready for it. Everyone was working harder, but somehow, there was always more work! Growth began to slow down as life grew more and more complicated. I call this “Hitting the ceiling of complexity.”
I have observed this pattern in hundreds of companies that I have visited and interviewed. When they hit the ceiling of complexity, it means that their problems compounded when they lost focus (picked up more priorities), became misaligned (missed handoffs and repeatedly dropped the ball), and lost accountability (did not know who was supposed to deliver what by when). This loss of focus, alignment, and accountability is very subtle, and it happens slowly at first–but when the effects become compounded over time, it feels like our ability to achieve our goals has vanished overnight!
Our client faced three challenges common to companies of this growth stage:
Through coaching, our client was able to change their habits and get more focused, aligned, and accountable to achieve their commitments. As they did this, they experienced three key changes:
If you could get your people focused, aligned, and accountable to execute your strategy, what difference would it make for you?
Peak Performance is all about change management and driving the right habits. As you develop and hone your performance habits, you learn how to say “no” during planning, plan cross-functionally to eliminate silos, and stay connected by holding the right conversations. This is how you achieve better focus, alignment, and accountability so that you can break through the ceiling of complexity!
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