BREAKTHROUGH TO YOUR NEXT LEVEL
The Breakthrough Concept
How do successful leaders take their visions and their organizations to the next level? How do they achieve steady and sustainable growth while outpacing their competitors? Breakthrough leaders and breakthrough companies know the answer involves using a clearly defined set of strategies as a roadmap to success. Before exploring these innovative strategies, it is helpful to first understand the term “breakthrough,” which means any significant or sudden advance that removes a barrier to progress. A leader who has overcome challenges and obstacles to achieve significant growth is a breakthrough leader.
Instinctively, you may think of leaders who have led companies like Wal-Mart and GE to paramount success. Yet, these corporate giants are only a small percentage of those leaders who have risen to the forefront of their industries. The focus here is on others leaders and their companies who have swiftly outpaced their competitors to become some of the fastest growing companies in the United States.
Breakthrough Characteristics and Strategies
Breakthrough companies share a common set of characteristics that are key to getting ahead and staying ahead in business. These characteristics include constantly looking toward the next challenge, constantly focusing on avoiding complacency, and achieving growth. Breakthrough leaders know growth is essential to every organization, regardless of its size because without growth customers will turn to competitors who continue to grow and meet their needs.
While you may want to give up during challenging economic or business climates, these may be the best times to test your company’s strength and resolve. In his book, The Breakthrough Company, Keith McFarland notes, “Breakthrough leaders, as compared to most CEOs, see difficult times as opportunities for the organization to develop a crystal clear focus on its most important initiatives and even to tap into energies in people that tend to go dormant during the good times.” As an example, JetBlue’s story is a reminder of a company that launched a business full throttle at a time when the airline industry experienced a downturn. Success came quickly to the airline company through determination and solid planning.
Another way to achieve breakthrough success is by surrounding yourself with people you can learn from, people who possess the skills and resources to help build your success. According to Stephen Pollack, author of Second Acts, “The world is too ambiguous to rely on your own perspectives.” Being open to others’ ideas and insights is a necessary attribute of breakthrough leadership. You must cast a wide net to capitalize on external resources that will support the changes and take your business to the next level. Rapport’s Organizational Performance Training (OPT) is an example of a resource that will propel your business to your own next level. OPT focuses on changing performance directly related to your specific business needs; results include improved organizational health, performance alignment of all team members, and more proactive solutions to organizational challenges.
Breakthrough also requires the ability and willingness to take risks—it means getting out on the skinny branches because that is where the fruit is. Upping the ante for your business requires tremendous skill: it means knowing when, how, and where to place your bets as well as having the ability to project the outcome of not taking risks. To learn more about using risk-taking strategies, read this month’s process: “Upping the Ante.”
For some leaders, taking risks goes beyond the financial aspect of their business; it also involves human capital. Unfortunately, while some leaders believe new ideas and decision-making is the task of upper level managers and that involving other departments is risky, the truth is that breakthrough leaders involve others to ensure they feel like valued members of the organization. The real risk is not involving other people in the company. In his book, McFarland calls this failure of involvement “Crowning the CEO,” which is when the business revolves around the wants, needs, and desires of the CEO instead of revolving around the company. This approach must be reversed so that the company is crowned, not just its leaders. Some of McFarland’s examples for crowning the company include openly discussing strategic issues throughout the organization, regularly inviting new ideas from all members of the firm, and allowing affected departments to resolve conflicts.
As you continue to move your business forward, you must remain a forward thinker with the understanding that business trends are constantly evolving. Moreover, as you collaborate with others, you must hold them accountable for being honest with you about your company’s focus and direction. Breakthrough leaders apply this strategy throughout their organizations by encouraging others from within to ask questions that prompt companies to evaluate themselves. Just as you took a 100% honest look at yourself in Leadership Breakthrough One, you need to be willing to take a 100% honest look at your company and your relationship to your organization. This self-evaluation may be difficult for some leaders, yet listening to objective feedback is a necessary part of breaking through to the next level. Remember that all feedback is GOOD feedback!
Important Takeaways
What sets successful companies apart from their competitors is their willingness to do what others will not do. To achieve breakthrough success means looking ahead to the next challenge and craving growth rather than accepting complacency. Staying strong during challenging times and using that time to focus on your most important initiatives. Being open to other ideas and insights. Taking risks and crowning your company instead of its leader. These strategies are not about mirroring others’ successes; they are about truly challenging yourself and taking your leadership and your organization to unimaginable heights!
Sources:
dictionary.com
McFarland, F. The Breakthrough Company: How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers.
Pollack, S. Second Acts: Creating the Life You Really Want, Building the Career You Truly Desire.
