Here’s a secret you may have wished somebody told you – if you grow too fast, without having the cash resources, you’re going to need money from someone or somewhere. You’ll spend your time as a leader chasing funding rather than focusing on running your business, building your infrastructure, executing on your strategy and most importantly aligning your Team.

Growth for growth’s sake can be a death knoll for some companies. What is your profitability? Why waste time and energy seeking big numbers to have a miniscule profit margin? Make the right decisions – review your business model, look at your cash conversion cycle and stay on top of your metrics. Too many CEOs think that a financial report is the way to appease their banker. No! It’s the way to manage your company. The numbers reveal your cash flow story.

So what’s the alternative to pursuing revenue? Create a killer strategy and trigger points to know what action to take at those inflection points. These actions might focus on adding “A” level talent to your executive or management team or buying new equipment. This is deliberate, and intentional. There is no need to fly by the seat of your pants. Focus on making the right decisions at the right time

We have all been told that conflict is good for a team. In Pat Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team he encourages teams to “mine” for conflict. This goes slightly against our belief systems which cause us to cringe when we think of conflict. As a leader or manager it’s important to set that belief aside and encourage your Team to speak up. Does your team speak up? What might get in the way?

There was a time when leaders were command and control leaders. They took lessons from Sun Tzu and The Art of War. Leadership was leading a battle hence the old words like “mission” where we now have “purpose” or a “why”. Now there are situational leaders, authentic leaders, servant leaders etc.

Leaders who are dictators will not succeed in the future as 80 million Millennials replace the 50 million soon-to-retire baby boomers. The next generation believes that they have choice. Old school leaders may believe that employees need them more than they need the employees. If so, those leaders will end up with a “voiceless” team that is shut down from voicing opinions. Why pay for top talent and then dismiss their ideas – allow for a collaborative environment and mine for conflict to end up with a better plan!

Do you believe your own BS? Or are you listening……