Grow Your Business UP!

Packed with memorable stories, the latest neuroscience, and original frameworks and models, this blueprint for a successful "gifted" organization is a must read for any leader who is surrounded and supported by an exceptional group of people-and must keep them climbing in a market that demands hyper-growth. A once inspired workforce is now disillusioned with the workplace, and leaders of extraordinary organizations are terrified to execute high-growth strategies because they won't survive if their precious talent leaves under the strain of such a significant change. In this pithy and pragmatic book, seasoned management consultant John Weathington helps leaders better understand the secrets of esprit de corps in a fresh way that incorporates recent discoveries in neuroscience, anthropology, and organizational behavior. John walks the reader through the technical and emotional decisions that should be made during difficult circumstances, using examples from his own 30+ years of experience working with complex and gifted organizations. This book takes on the thorny subject of collective human behavior and extracts golden nuggets for leaders to apply to their strategy, organizational design, and their own development, all while fostering a healthy, vibrant workplace where people thrive. Distilling a vast array of science-based disciplines into immediately actionable advice, this book is a transformative resource for C-Suite leaders of mid- to large-sized companies, senior vice presidents of very large organizations, and the professionals supporting these leaders, who all face the unenviable challenge of scaling up an organization while retaining top talent.

John Weathington is a seasoned management consultant with 30+ years' experience in Fortune 100 firms and is President and CEO of Excellent Management Systems.

Introduction. Iteration Zero: Clarifying the Journey Ahead. Chapter 1 - Thereafter They Shape Us: The Precious Gift of Having a Precocious Team. Chapter 2 - What the Hell Am I Supposed to Do Now? Clarifying the Concomitant Opportunities of Hyper-Growth, Cultural Fissures, and the post-COVID Tsunami. Chapter 3 - Are You Sure About This? Mentally Preparing to Lead the Journey. Iteration One: Attempting the Adamant Triad of Strategy, Organizational Design, and Innovation. Chapter 4 - The Heart of a General: What a Human-Centered Hyper-Growth Strategy Looks Like. Chapter 5 - Form Follows Culture: The Architecture of a People-First Organization. Chapter 6 - Edison's Boxing Cats: Leveraging Precocity to Weaponize Innovation and Annihilate the Competition. Iteration Two: Accelerating the Adamant Triad with a High-Performing Team. Chapter 7 - Manifesting Mana: Cultivating a Healthy, Vibrant Workplace Where People Thrive. Chapter 8 - I Have a Dream Team: How to Lead a Gifted Team. Iteration Three: Arriving at the Final Design. Chapter 9 - The Forest Comes into Focus: Clarifying the Strategy and Preparing for Transformation. Chapter 10 - Metamorphosis: Transformational Change in Animals and Organizations. Day Zero: Going Live and Making the Transition. Chapter 11 - The Final Approach: Going Live with the New Organization. Chapter 12 - Our Building Has a New Shape: Institutionalizing Lessons Learned from an Exciting Journey. Chapter 13 Final Thoughts: Reveilles and Balderdash: Zooming In on the Luck, Skill, and Grit of The First 100 Days. Epilogue