A tale of two companies

Here is a short business story with an important moral: two companies are successfully positioned in the market, operate in a similar segment and have moderately growing sales. Everything else is also very similar.

In good times, business runs very smoothly. But now, the environment is more difficult (maybe due to a pandemic, maybe due to a downturn, maybe due to changing customer demands). And here comes the difference…

In leadership meetings in company A,  it is always stressed that the company is very well positioned and that it has enough experience to cope with the whole situation. In Company B, on the other hand, more people who have learned to think differently have their say: they develop the firm conviction that this is the opportunity to learn massively, to take on full responsibility and to use the difficult time to their advantage. 

So, they study books and other material that will help each individual to progress. They devour biographies of successful businesspeople, discuss important lessons from video courses and also take advantage of occasional coaching.

After a short time, they have strategies ready for launching new offers, have created new business models and are entering new markets in a systematic way. Initial successes are emerging and are being used to take further steps.

Meanwhile, the number of meetings in company A is increasing, as well as alternating blame and perseverance slogans. Revenue and margins begin to decline. Of course, personal growth, like in company B, is now even more out of the question.

Within only 3 years, company B has almost doubled its sales profitably, while company A is struggling for survival. And they ask themselves, "How did company B manage this? They simply must have been lucky!"

What is the moral of this oversimplified story? Here are three massively important lessons that every company should apply: 

1. Personal development. What often makes the crucial difference is the desire of people to develop themselves personally. This includes questioning beliefs, behaviour, habits and much more. And, of course, the continuous acquisition of knowledge and feedback. This is the strongest foundation for sustainable success - more than anything else.
2. It is attitude, not knowledge, that makes the difference. Today, knowledge is becoming more and more commonplace. The precious difference is increasingly made by the attitudes of team members regarding growth, opportunities, success, commitment and more. Personally, I see huge differences among companies here - with corresponding effects.
3. Development is fun. Stagnation only apparently leads to more security. Staying in the comfort zone is a dangerous game. Unfortunately, however, many people in companies have been given exactly this illusion. Real fulfilment and joy, on the other hand, always lie in personal growth and the successes associated with it.

If you want to strengthen the personal growth of your people, we should have a talk. Just get in touch with me.