Center for Inspired Performance: Achieving Optimum Sustainable Growth

The Center for Inspired Performance is your source of best practices for optimum growth; growth that is sustainable, growth that achieves market leadership, growth based upon the most profitable customers.

The Growth Equation

Optimum Sustainable Growth = Strategic Focus + Market Intelligence +Innovation & Delivery Process + Human Capital

Best Practices are:

· Driven by Market Intelligence

· Build a plan for Market Leadership

· That your current talent

· Can execute flawlessly NOW

Optimum Sustainable Growth - Double the Sales, Double the Margin

The road to sustainable (and fast) growth is not for the weak of heart. Less than 10% of companies in the United States qualify as a "cheetah." It takes sales twice your industry average with margins meeting the same hurdle.

Strategic Focus - Create a plan for Market Leadership

All successful growth strategies have some common characteristics:

· Spread the risk - create a portfolio of complementary initiatives

· Take Small Bites - set up smaller growth objectives in complementary areas - rule of 1%

· Balanced Initiatives - blend organic growth (existing clients - existing products & services) with new growth

· Commit to Superior Value - ensure supremacy in one of three areas - price, quality of products & services, overall experience - avoid being average

· Expand Growth Opportunities - management is the constraint, not market demand

· Manage for Growth - managing a growth portfolio as a distinct executive function

Market Intelligence - The Driver of Competitive Advantage

In order to design a strategy that achieves growth, the company must excel at understanding and applying market intelligence about customers, competitors, and the economy's impact on their industry

Keep Current Growth - identify and target most profitable customers to retain
Take Business from Competitors - identify their top customers that match your offer - what will it take for them to shift
Anticipate Growth - identify where the market is headed - what will it take to be first
Move into Comparable Markets - identify and target new markets for existing products & services
Invest in New Offers - identify and target new markets to develop new products & services

Processes - The Core Competence of Flawless Execution

The challenge for most companies is to strike a balance between defining process, steps, and roles with the need to provide the flexibility for creativity and innovation. Successful processes are designed to create extraordinary results form normal, consistent performance. Imagine what is possible when the talent is extraordinary!

Critical Processes

Delivery of Products & Services
Design of New Products & Services
New Client Acquisition
Organic Growth
Selection & Development of People
Performance Self Management

Human Capital - Attracting, Developing, Retaining Talent

The challenge is capturing discretionary performance. Performance that is inspired because it is based upon self-management, each of us striving to exceed previous best performance.

Part of the equation is understanding our role in the show; part is having a well-designed job that maximizes our effort, and finally user-friendly way of tracking performance.