Click here for a full transcript of the episode.

For the long-term survival of a business, it’s crucial for the organization to grow. At any given time, a business might be in one of five growth stages: birth/startup, growth, maturity, decline, or revival. To learn more about this topic, we invited expert Diane Brown to the show to share her knowledge and advice on organizational growth.

There are several ways to think about growth. We often think about it from a consistent revenue growth, profitability growth, and/or population growth standpoint. However, there’s also an intangible factor when organizations are growign – a level of energy and thriving. It’s natural in the growth process that an organization, team, or individual is going to hit some sort of ceiling, where things start to plateau. One of the keys to growth is thinking about how to break through that ceiling to get back to the thriving energy that we need.

Diane shares several strategies to break through the ceiling. First, be very clear on the organizational vision and what you’re trying to achieve. Next, strategic leadership is key. It’s also important to have a discipline around executing a strategic planning process. These first three are a great point for HR to have a seat at the table, helping create, articulate, and communicate the vision, coaching leaders to lean into strategic rather than task-oriented leadership, and making sure the voice of the organization is represented at the table.

After that big strategic element, the next part is looking at people and structure. Look at whether your team’s roles, functions, and structure make sense based on where you are in your organizational journey. Lastly, look at your processes and really simplify and systematize them so they’re repeatable, scalable, and simple enough for people to understand, execute, and get results.

In this episode’s listener question, we’re asked for tips to help coworkers who may not be as extroverted to be more open to collaboration. In the news, a recent Gallup survey found that 40% of US workers report that their job has had a negative impact on their mental health in the past six months.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Purple Ink
• Powered by Purple Ink
• Susan Tinder White Consulting
• ”Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow”
• Email Diane
• Archos Advisors
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
• ”Is Your Team’s Mental Health at Risk?”
• SHRM credit evaluation
• The JoyPowered® Shop
• JoyPowered® on Facebook
• JoyPowered® on LinkedIn
• JoyPowered® on Instagram
• JoyPowered® on Twitter
• Email JoyPowered®

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