SUMMARY
What does it take for a new organization to succeed? After launching numerous companies, Les McKeown began to identify some common patterns that new ventures all seemed to go through, releasing his findings in his book, Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization on the Growth Track—and Keeping it There. He recently sat down with the GLN’s own David Ashcraft to go deeper into the six stages in the lifecycle of an organization, and how leaders can respond in each of them. This is the first part of a two-part episode.
IN THIS EPISODE
0:00 Intro.
04:30 Les’ background and how he arrived at the “Predictable Success” model.
10:15 The 30-second, “elevator pitch” to describe Predictable Success.
11:35 Diving into the model: “Early Struggle,” “Fun” and “White Water.”
27:45 Outro
LISTEN
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS
- Predictable Success is essentially a roadmap for any group of people who want to achieve common goals.
- There are six stages in the lifecycle of most organizations (1) Early Struggle; (2) Fun; (3) White Water; and (4) Predictable Success; (5) The Big Rut; and (6) The Death Rattle.
- An average 80% of all new ventures fail, and that number goes higher in times of both recession and growth.
- There are two key reasons while new businesses fail: (1) They are stared by people who don’t have the DNA to do it, and (2) People significantly underestimate what it takes to make a new business succeed.
- New entrepreneurs regularly underestimate the amount of time, money and passion that it will take to establish a new venture.
- While a business is operating in the “Fun” zone, complexity is simultaneously rising until people wake up and realize that the organization is saying “Yes” to everything and is doing too much.
- Every time you say, “Yes” you are adding another level of complexity and inhibiting your ability to deliver.
- When an organization reaches “White Water,” leaders must decide whether they want to go back to “Fun” or break through to “Predictable Success.”
- To get out of White Water, an organization needs to establish systems and processes, and to adhere to them.
- Leaders start new things out of a desire for freedom and autonomy, so systems and processes often feel confining to entrepreneurs. What is required is a change in leadership style.
- Staying in “Fun” will, by definition, limit your ability to grow. However it’s also where the “legends” of the organization are established.
- “Heroic Leadership” drives growth during “Fun.”
LINKS MENTIONED
David Ashcraft
President and CEO | Global Leadership NetworkLes McKeown
Founder & CEO | Predictable SuccessEp 178: Les McKeown on Making Success “Predictable” (Pt. 1)
TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST
CallingExecutionLeading OthersLeading YourselfProductivityVisionWhat does it take for a new organization to succeed? After launching numerous companies, Les McKeown began to identify some common patterns that new ventures all seemed to go through, releasing his findings in his book, Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization on the Growth Track—and Keeping it There. He recently sat down with the GLN’s own David Ashcraft to go deeper into the six stages in the lifecycle of an organization, and how leaders can respond in each of them. This is the first part of a two-part episode.
On This Podcast
David Ashcraft
Global Leadership Network
David Ashcraft is President and CEO of the Global Leadership Network, as well as President of The Advantage, a leadership collaborative serving pastors in Pennsylvania. As Senior Pastor of LCBC in Pennsylvania for 32 years, he helped grow weekly attendance from 150 people to a combined average of more than 22,000.
Les McKeown
Predictable Success
Les first began to recognize recurring growth patterns early in his career as a serial entrepreneur. In addition to being involved in the launch of more than 40 companies before he was 35, he was at the same time a founding elder in a fast-growing church, while serving on the board of a number of charities and not-for-profits. Les used the experience he gained during that time to co-found one of the first business incubators in the world, which he and his then business partner developed over a decade into a multi-national consulting company that advised on the creation and growth of hundreds of organizations worldwide. Struck by the similarity of issues faced by all growing organizations, Les began to codify his understanding of the repeating patterns of growth, publishing his Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller "Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization On the Growth Track - and Keeping It There" in 2010, followed in 2012 by "The Synergist: How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success".
Show Notes
SUMMARY
What does it take for a new organization to succeed? After launching numerous companies, Les McKeown began to identify some common patterns that new ventures all seemed to go through, releasing his findings in his book, Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization on the Growth Track—and Keeping it There. He recently sat down with the GLN’s own David Ashcraft to go deeper into the six stages in the lifecycle of an organization, and how leaders can respond in each of them. This is the first part of a two-part episode.
IN THIS EPISODE
0:00 Intro.
04:30 Les’ background and how he arrived at the “Predictable Success” model.
10:15 The 30-second, “elevator pitch” to describe Predictable Success.
11:35 Diving into the model: “Early Struggle,” “Fun” and “White Water.”
27:45 Outro
LISTEN
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS
LINKS MENTIONED
Show Notes are Exclusively for Podcast Subscribers
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