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When you are ready to scale your enterprise, leadership must shift from a founder-led model to a team-led approach. A company that strengthens its team consists of each team member wholly committed to the organization’s goals and objectives and supports growth no matter the owner, founder or CEO.
This setup is critical for scalability, because it allows the leader to focus on the way forward for the company while the team efficiently handles day-to-day operations. When your team is empowered and aligned, your company has the momentum to grow sustainably and flourish beyond the initial turmoil of its founding days.
Why you would like a team-based business to scale
A telling sign that a company lacks team potential is when the company owner becomes a hero. A hero who has to step in and save the day by continuously putting out fires and dealing with urgent issues as a substitute of focusing on what’s essential for the company’s growth. This creates a bad habit of spending time putting out fires relatively than focusing on strategic motion, which is able to ultimately reduce the variety of urgent situations. Focus on having committed leaders in every quadrant of your company. With a more collaborative approach, your team can thrive and reach their full growth potential.
I know that a company lacks team potential if entrepreneurs often recreate the wheel because they do not have consistent systems and processes or don’t update their systems constantly as technology changes. Leadership must be based on empowerment, inspiring the team to take motion, not only telling people what to do. It’s essential to keep in mind that your team performs higher when inspired than when instructed. They want to share their ideas and bring creativity to the company’s vision.
Among the many advantages a team-based company can bring, founders should keep in mind three reasons why this setup is crucial for any company looking to scale.
1. A team-based company increases business value
The reluctance to delegate tasks is one of the biggest obstacles for business owners. They consider that critical information will slip through the cracks if they are not closely involved in day-to-day operations. However, it should be admitted that when a company relies solely on its founder, its overall value decreases significantly. Investors or potential buyers are less likely to stick with a company that lacks resilience when leadership changes hands. Your goal is to rise to the position of a visionary, enabling the business to develop independently.
2. Team empowerment drives a strong, scalable culture
When your company relies on team skills, you do not rely on just one or a few people to move the entire team forward. Instead, the entire team collectively directs their energy towards your company’s goals. This contagious momentum helps create a culture where every team member feels valued and motivated to participate. A powerful culture is created by empowering and aligning with the company’s vision; it may’t just magically occur.
Scaling a business is about replicating success, not only increasing revenue or market presence. Replication starts with a team that shares your vision and feels empowered to take responsibility for their roles. When each team member contributes their creativity and ideas, your business grows faster because you are not limited by any one person’s capabilities or bandwidth.
3. Scalable models require a shift from owner dependence to team empowerment
Scaling requires a business model that enables your product or service to be replicated beyond you as the owner. If you are still involved in the sales process or other core operations, your business is not scalable – there are only so many hours in the day and you will be exhausted.
The most successful brands use 15 scalable models, including franchising, subscription services, SaaS, licensing and talent replication across the team. Pinnacle Global Network and its team of mentors help corporations implement these models to speed up their growth.
Entrepreneurs who consider that clients only want to work with them often struggle with the considered withdrawing, fearing that it’s going to cause the business and potential collaboration to fail. However, for a strong team-based company, this is simply not true.
The key is extreme clarity about your company’s direction and vision. Each team member should be clear about what success looks like in their role and in the company, and understand their role in achieving the vision each internally and externally. It might be easier for the CEO to let go when everyone is lined up and heading towards the same North Star. Instead of claiming, “I do this” or “I create that,” start saying, “We are,” and focus on your team. Highlight your clients’ achievements and strengths so that they consider in your team’s ability to deliver.
Start strengthening your team today
One step entrepreneurs or CEOs can take today to strengthen their teams is to work on their very own leadership style and evaluate how they impart with their teams. Instead of answering everyone’s questions and keeping your team dependent on you, ask them, (*3*) or “How would you handle this situation?” You might even say, “Why don’t you make a plan and present it to the team?” Here are small ways to empower your team to take ownership and put creativity into their work. When they do this, they are going to care more about it, be happy with it, and put more energy into making their work successful.
When this happens, the team will turn out to be less dependent on the owner, allowing them to step more into this visionary role and focus on bigger-picture strategies. This has a direct impact on scaling because when the team is empowered and the owner is not bogged down on a every day basis, the company can move to a more scalable model that replicates and multiplies.