The Mental Model of a Growth-Focused CEO

SAP CEO Bill McDermott offers this advice to business leaders in a recent Harvard Business Review article: “Give the people a compelling vision and find a way to hit the accelerator harder.” Not an easy task in a company with 83,000 employees scattered across 193 countries. If you would like help with this topic, visit The Studio, SBI’s multimillion dollar, one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art executive briefing center. A visit to The Studio increases the probability of making your number because the sessions are built on the proven strength and stability of SBI, the industry leader in B2B sales and marketing. 

“Give the people a compelling vision …

The key drivers of growth remain:

1. Market expansion: Winning more business in a growing market.
2. New market exposure: Entering growth markets in which you previously did not compete.
3. Market share gain: Taking share from competitors in your existing space.

A growth-focused CEO thinks broadly across these three drivers to develop that compelling vision. It must be the CEO’s vision and here’s why. See if you recognize these big red flags:

• Your SVP of sales positions your company brilliantly against your competitors but can only speculate why your biggest competitor just announced a new alliance or partnership.
• Your product leader and CMO lobbied you to invest heavily in a new product for your existing customer base but your sales leadership is telling you the final product is a “dog with fleas.”
• You begin to see new logos in sectors and geographies that are outside the marketing plan you were given months earlier, with companies you did not even consider using your service.

   

… and find a way …

Finding your way means asking hard questions that will expand the thinking of your functional leaders. To delve into those questions, download SBI’s 10th annual strategic planning workbook, How to Make Your Number in 2017 … and Every Year Thereafter. One thing is certain: Using your traditional routes to market, pricing schemes, product configurations, and the like will ensure you grow revenues at the same pace or slower than you have in the past.

… to hit the accelerator harder.”

Best-in-class growth companies align the CEO’s strategic vision with their product, marketing, sales, finance, and human resources teams in a way that is visible to customers and prospects. SAP’s McDermott convinced his German-centric board and employees that selling in America and in other parts of the world was different. As with many companies, shifting to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model affected every function at SAP. McDermott attributes the company’s impressive growth to strategic alignment across his teams.

If you would like help with this subject, come see the SBI leadership team in Dallas at The Studio, SBI’s multimillion dollar, one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art executive briefing center. A visit to The Studio typically results in getting 3 months of work done in 3 days. The immersive sessions accelerate everything, dramatically reducing the time it takes to diagnose a problem, develop a solution, and create an implementation plan.