Growth Strategy and Developing Company Culture

MakingBank: S3E30 with Gene Hammett

Gene Hammett, entrepreneur, and hypergrowth expert gave us three elements to implement internally that can amplify moral and productivity and allow for rapid growth within your company — the leader, the team and the systems. When you put each under the microscope and truly examine if you are functioning at an optimal level in each capacity, you’ll find there is always room for improvement.

Your best resource, you already have. Your employees can see where things are functioning and failing on a day to day basis. Whether or not they are willing to be honest with you, is another story.

What kind of leader are you?

If you’re still functioning as an operator or a fixer in the company, if you’re the one people rely on to improve the systems in place then you are the bottleneck preventing forward motion and momentum.

“You want to be able to empower your team to talk about the process and actually let them define the process.”

Your team knows what works and what doesn’t. They’re the ones using the systems every day. If you give them autonomy and ownership over the process then they can eliminate friction you may be unaware of, and you can focus on the larger scope — what are the goals and the next step?

Company culture has become somewhat of a trending topic with companies offering beer or kombucha on tap, food trucks, and massage therapists, but it can be as simple as providing an environment for your team to participate in creating a new process. Your employees know what you can be doing better.

Gene talked about constantly learning from other leaders, going to conferences, meeting with successful entrepreneurs and picking their brains, finding ways to inspire new thought and creativity to breathe life into his work. One sign he’s noted of an evolved company undergoing hypergrowth or companies with hypergrowth potential is that they do similar things with their employees. They have growth conversations, feedback about fears, leadership, and new ways to collaborate. In this sense, the culture of a company and the growth are inextricably linked.

A simple way to start integrating growth culture into your company is to start with an initial goal. Give your team the opportunity to collaborate on the goal. Their ownership of the project is key. Have them come up with an initial framework, figure out the tools needed to get it done, and the steps it will acquire to accomplish it. Once that is established join back in the conversation and see where you can streamline any unnecessary things and move forward on the project.

The more they are a part of the conversation, the more ownership and pride they will take in their work. Gene encourages his clients to ask, “How do I support them to transform their thinking?” knowing, “If you can get them to let go of the fear and doubt that keep them from really moving forward and providing real value to your business you’ve got a really strong culture you can stand behind.”

Your leadership in relinquishing control and allowing the team to take the lead on building new systems inspires their ownership inside the company. By providing common practices that allow your team to continuously improve, you shift how they view their work while simultaneously building company culture and opening the channels for rapid growth.

If you’re not sure what goals to set, or where to begin with structuring this new environment for your employees, it never hurts to bring in a second set of eyes. Find a coach that can give you insight on setting new processes, building new systems, and how to communicate with your team to kick off the culture overhaul. You want to be intentional with the environment and culture you’re cultivating so your team knows you care about them and they, in turn, care about their work.

For more from Gene Hammott and to listen to his podcast head to www.GeneHammett.com. You can find his book, The Trap of Success on Amazon.com.