The learning curve

Leslie Braksick is truly passionate
about her job at Continuous Learning
Group, a consulting firm that helps companies develop human resources
strategies, processes and behaviors.

But even with that passion, the company’s founder and chairman knew she
couldn’t do it all, and her greatest challenge became changing her role as a leader
so that others could grow as the company
evolved. Braksick says it was a difficult
but necessary step for her company as it
has grown to 152 employees in the
14 years since its inception.

And that growth shows no sign of
stopping as CLG grew revenue to
$30 million in 2006, a 26 percent
increase over 2005.

Smart Business spoke with
Braksick about how taking that
step to change your role and being
a model for other employees can
help a company grow.

Q: What is the hardest part of
leading a growing company?

The leader having to change his
or her role to match the evolving
needs of the business. In a small
company, there are a lot of craftspeople who do the work themselves, and they love it, and they
do it well. As you grow, you
become a manager of other
craftspeople, in addition to
maybe still being a craftsperson.

Eventually, you become a
leader who manages managers
of craftspeople. So as a leader of
a growing company, you may, in
fact, be moving further away
from the very thing that brings you joy and
passion, that got you into the business to
begin with. You have to not only be OK
with that, but you have to embrace that to
ensure that you’re being the leader your
organization most needs to grow.

Q: How can leaders deal with the change
in their leadership role as their company
grows?

Be clear about what problem you’re trying to solve, and then solve it. Sometimes
issues mask themselves as other issues.

The struggle could come from the fact that
you have inadequate talent inside the organization, or that the great talent you have
inside the organization lacks strategic clarity as to what they should be working on.

Or maybe they have that, but they are not
feeling motivated to do what needs to be
done. Or maybe the tools they’re asked to
work with are somehow inadequate.

Maybe the leader doesn’t want to be leading others; maybe he or she would just as
soon be back as a craftsperson.

Q: How do you manage growth so that it
does not spin out of control?

It’s key that you have some leading indicators that let you know how the business
is doing so that you’re not surprised or
caught off guard. It could be something as
simple as number of inquiries or, if you’re
doing any kind of marketing, what kind of
hits you’re getting.

You need to manage those leading indicators, so if you see prospects coming into
your sales pipeline, you need to staff up or make changes so that you’re ready to
deliver on that.

Q: What are some things that can stop a
company from growing?

Dissatisfied clients or customers. If people are highly satisfied, that doesn’t guarantee they will repurchase. They have to be
truly delighted, they have to be off-the-chart pleased with the product or service,
or you’re not guaranteed repurchasing or
referring. Unless you have truly delighted
clients, you’re not assured growth,
and you are not guaranteed that you
will continue to see the growth.

That’s followed by having great
people inside your organization. It
matters a lot that your customers and
clients feel good about interfacing
with your people and that they feel
people are responsive to their needs
and wants and care about them.

We look for people who are humble,
who can be empathetic with the needs
of the people that we serve. We’re not
looking for people that are boastful or
think they are right all the time.

And yet, we look for people who
bring a real passion and a spark to the
workplace, people that are excited to
do a great job.

Q: How do you know if you’re headed
in the wrong direction?

Heed the warning signs. If things are
not right, there are usually signs they are
not right. Don’t wait until it gets bad to
intervene and talk about it. We are highly imperfect, but as long as we’re talking
about it, it’s really all I care about.

It’s when people stop talking and telling
a leader honestly what’s happening, what’s
working and what’s not working, when the
leader gets in trouble and, ultimately, when
the organization gets in trouble.

Leaders need to remain open and inviting
and understand what the warning signs are
telling them and not wait until there are
issues. Don’t wait until your top person
walks out the door because they’re miserable. You’ll see signs a lot earlier than that.

HOW TO REACH: Continuous Learning Group, (412) 269-7240
or www.clg.com