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Discipline, Denial and Double-Digit Growth

By Janet Levaux

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Michael Treacy, keynote speaker at OneVoice 2007, the Financial Services Institute recent broker-dealer conference, insists that many companies don’t or can’t plan for consecutive years of growth. That’s because they’re too comfortable with their current growth, or lack there of; they also may lack the discipline and/or needed managerial talent.

The consultant and former MIT professor of management says that double-digit growth comes down to managing execution rather than devising strategy. And this means discipline, namely in the following five areas:

1. Retaining your customer base; keeping the customer churn rate down.

2. Increasing your market share; meaning that rivals have to lose some.

3. Exploiting your market position; showing up where growth is going to happen and getting your fair share.

4. Penetrating adjacent markets; attacking “neighboring” markets when there are immediate and practical advantages.

5. Investing in new lines of business that represent opportunities beyond your core areas and require “investor” skill.

Companies looking to grow must keep their eye on management not markets, Treacy insists. Execution. Execution. Execution.