This presentation was made at the Entrepreneur Organization's 2014 Conference in Toronto, Ontario on June 12th, by Behavioral Change Expert, Heather Hilliard. It demonstrates the different stages of development every business goes through - from infancy to adulthood - and shows the types of challenges that entrepreneur's face during each challenge.

1. Leadership systems that
create powerful companies
Stages of Organizational
Growth
Entrepreneurs Organization
June 5, 2014
Presented by: Heather Hilliard,
Developed by: Anne Dranitsaris, Ph.D.
Behavioral Change & Leadership Experts

2. What you will learn
 Entrepreneurial personality
 5 reasons entrepreneurs resist growth
 Stages of authentic organizational growth
 What stage your organization is at
 Nurture or sell your business

3. Leadership systems that
create powerful companies
The Entrepreneurial
Personality

4. The Entrepreneurial Personality
 Our behaviour as entrepreneurs is driven by
our…
 Brain organization
 Emotional needs

5. The Entrepreneurial Personality
The Leader
I need to be
in control
The Performer The Visionary
I need to be
recognized
I need to be
perceptive
© Striving Styles®
Personality System

6. Personality & the Brain

7. Entrepreneurial Personality
 Visionary/Future oriented
 Thrive on chaos
 Competitive
 Confident, risk-takers
 Externally focused, action oriented
 Full of life, energy & optimism
 Determination & can-do attitude

8. Entrepreneurial Personality
 In perpetual growth mode (growth
for the sake of growth itself)
 Need for constant stimulation
 Quick fix problem solving
 Inability to tolerate frustration
 Don’t consider (or don’t care
about) the impact of their style on
employees or the chaos they
create
 Low interpersonal needs

9. Entrepreneurial Personality
 Driven to create and run a business in a way that meets
your needs
 Often at the expense of the business and its growth

10. Leadership systems that
create powerful companies
5 Reasons Why
Entrepreneurial Businesses
Fail to Grow

11. Entrepreneurial Mindset
 Equate personal success &
competence with money
 Self-esteem tied in with growth of
business
 Become anxious, deflated when
they stop focusing on growth &
wealth creation
 Don’t want to lead, coach or
mentor their people as it doesn’t
give them intrinsic satisfaction
#1

12. Inhibited by Self-Image
 Self-image is one of success &
competence
 Need to be recognized; to distinguish
themselves
 See themselves as having everything they
need to be successful
 Fail to develop business IQ
 Don’t listen to what they are being told; fail
to accept aspects of reality if they conflict
with their vision or self-image
#2

13. Dislike of Hierarchy
 Enjoy the camaraderie of the start up business; fail to put
in systems, structure or reporting relationships
 Don’t like to impose their agenda on others
 Believe everyone has similar need for autonomy & fail to
correct or tell employees how they want things done
 Uncomfortable using their position power
 Create chaos & disorder in the business & relationships
#3

14. Driven by Own Needs
 Success = money = need for recognition met
 Need for recognition keeps them growing the business
without a foundation
 Fail to consider the needs of employees in the pursuit of
getting their needs net
 Fail to empathize or care about employee experience
 Competitive: their need to distinguish themselves & be
better than others stops them from making real
connections with people
#4

15. Low Tolerance for
Frustration
 Impulse control not well developed
 Impatience for success causes them
to move to market before they are
ready
 Will fire people without helping them
be successful
 Will leave their business when they
hit a crisis of growth
 Become unsettled with anything that
slows them down
#5

16. Leadership systems that
create powerful companies
Stages of Organizational
Growth
… in an Entrepreneurial
Business

17. Stages of Growth in an
Entrepreneurial Business
 Businesses grow through stages with distinct needs
 Entrepreneur & business need to grow & mature
through each stage
 Passage from stage to
stage marked by crisis
points
 Nature & characteristics of
the entrepreneurial
personality can get in the
way of growth of business

18. From Infancy to
Adolescence
 Everything & everyone dependent on the Entrepreneur
 Familial, informal environment with no hierarchy
 Externally (sales & market) focused
 Youthful feelings, anything is possible
 All consuming state of complete
engagement with creating the
business
 Want the feelings of this
stage to go on & on
Stage
1

19. From Infancy to
Adolescence
 All activity focused on how to
get the product or service to
market
 Entrepreneur is at the hub of
all activity
 Freedom given to all
employees to self-manage
 Build culture as the ideal place
they would like to work in
Stage
1

20. Crisis of Growth &
Stuck Point
 Growth of the business leads to:
 increase of internal chaos, acting out & dysfunctions
 conflict due to lack of boundaries, role definitions or
organizational structures
 increased employee turnover
 no longer “high” on business
 feel powerless in own business
Stage
1

21. Shall I Stay or Shall I Go?
GO
 Many entrepreneurs keep their business at this stage for
many years
 not prepared to change their own behavior
 Fantasize about selling the business & moving on
 decide to get the business ready
to sell
 generally not enough of an
infrastructure to be saleable
Stage
1

22. Shall I Stay or Shall I Go?
STAY
 Decide to be a leader, not just an
entrepreneur
 Realize how your lack of business
IQ causes issues & get coaching,
training, etc
 Prepare to share leadership &
decision making
 Create some systems & processes
Stage
1
A body without bones
will flop…. So will a
business without a
sound structure.

23. From Adolescence to
Adulthood
 2 tiered leadership model
 Entrepreneur grows the business
 Business manager or team for
people, financial & systems
 Try to keep hierarchy flat
 Top down planning
 Some infrastructure
Stage
2
Entrepreneur
Business Manager
Employees

24. From Adolescence to
Adulthood
 Time freed up to continue growing
the business
 Permissive with employees, say
yes without thinking of
consequences
 May have two sets of rules: one
for you and the other for everyone
else
 Increase in wealth creates image
driven spending
Stage
2

25. Crisis of Growth &
Stuck Point
 Growth of the business leads to:
 bottlenecks in the decision making
process
 us & them mentality; power
struggles; high turnover
 employees feel stifled,
disempowered
 unpredictably, chaos, confusion
 feel like the “bad guy” instead of the
“hero” in your own business
Stage
2

26. Shall I Stay or Shall I Go?
GO
 Entrepreneur wants out of the business
 hiring a manager has not solved the problem
 not willing to delegate more authority
 upset with employees
 Seeks professional help to audit business
 Gets business ready for sale
 Already looking for other
opportunities
Stage
2

27. Shall I Stay or Shall I Go?
STAY
 Revisit business hierarchy:
delegate authority
 Separate own from business
identity
 Recognize the importance of the
employee experience to the
growth of the business
 Seek professional help to build a
professional organization
Stage
2
Behavior, systems &
processes must be
aligned to a single
identity to move
ahead.
Business
Identity

28. Adulthood
 Business entity defined
 Entrepreneur has clearly defined role
 Hierarchy, standards, processes & reporting
 Authority distributed throughout hierarchy
Stage
3

29. Adulthood
 Entrepreneur looks for opportunities to expand, innovate,
acquire & grow
 Not involved in day-to-day business management
 Leadership team in place
 Defined systems throughout the organization
Stage
3

30. Crisis of Growth &
Stuck Point
 Growth of the business leads to:
 chaos due to fast growth without considering the
impact on people or readying the business
 inexperienced managers making decisions
autonomously
 confusion of employees as to who is in charge
 lack of communication systems lead to silos
Stage
3

31. Shall I Stay or Shall I Go?
GO
 Entrepreneur satisfied with how far the business has
come
 trusts leadership team to run the business
 not enough challenge
 excited about another venture
 Hires person to take his place
 Establishes Board of Directors
Stage
3

32. Shall I Stay or Shall I Go?
STAY
 Invest in employees, the business
& yourself
 Conduct leadership audit & gap
analysis
 Create a change plan for
strengthening your business: align
people, behavior & practices
 Build relationships & trust with
employees
Stage
3
You know the value of
investing in your
business to increase
bottom line results

33. Maturity
 Effective meetings, communications, & issue resolution
 Use of informal social networks amongst employees
 Clear expectations lead to increased productivity &
financial results
 Energy put into the employee experience increases
engagement
 Leaders spending more time leading
and less time doing
Stage
4

34. Maturity
 Low employee turnover with a committed workforce
 Top talent attracted to business because of reputation
 Employees are in roles that meet their needs and match
their strengths and interests
 Alignment of energy & focus on collective vision
 Success factors identified, managed & achieved
Stage
4

35. Leadership systems that
create powerful companies
Navigating the Stages in
Your Own Business

36. Navigating the Stages…
 Identify what stage you business is at
 Examine whether you want to stay or go
 Determine what you need to do to get to the next stage
 Make investments, as you would into assets
 Get the support and expertise you need

37. Navigating the Stages…
Greatest challenges for the entrepreneur
 Waking up to what you business actually needs
 Not bailing as soon as it gets too uncomfortable
 Stop blaming and complaining
 Using true experts despite how they make you feel
 Acknowledging your own role in any dysfunction
 Invest – both money and your own time

38. Questions?
For more information, contact us:
Heather Hilliard
hhilliard@caliberleadership.com
416.406.3939
www.CaliberLeadershipSystems.com
www.StrivingStyles.com