All of us have experienced it. The business we are leading is on a growth trajectory and things seem to be going well. We go to work every day (or nearly so!) excited about what we are doing, and from our point of view, the sky is the limit as to where this can go. And then it seems like we hit a ceiling. Growth slows, levels off and then there’s a decline. We try harder, try different things, but nothing changes and we feel stuck.

John Maxwell, one of the world’s foremost leadership experts, explains the phenomena this way. Leadership is the lid to its organization. He calls it the law of the lid. And it’s true for any organization including your company, your division within the company or any other space where you are providing leadership. The people around you, the organization you lead will not grow past you as a person. In order for your business to grow, your division inside the company to grow, you must grow.

Most of us are not looking for more things to do, especially things that don’t have immediate impact on our productivity and performance. However, growing as a leader, is one of the things that we must invest in regularly in order to lead any growing organization. And here I speak not only of growing the top line – gross revenue – though it certainly is true there. It also impacts how we grow efficiencies, quality, customer service, profitability, talent pool and maybe most significantly, how we grew in effectiveness as leaders.

After I took over our family business as president and bought out my father’s shares in the company, I knew we had issues that needed to be addressed. We had just survived the 2008 downturn where we saw revenue drop precipitously. In addition, we had just opened our second retail location. There was red ink on the P&L. Something needed to change.

In the process of buying out my father, I had hired a local business broker to do an appraisal on the company. In a conversation evaluating the business performance, he suggested I read “The E-Myth” by Michael E. Gerber as a way to think about business. As I recall, the subtitle of the book was “Why most small businesses don’t work, and what to do about it.” This conversation and Gerber’s book set me on a pathway of growth, first as an individual and secondarily as a leader. This growth allowed the business to grow significantly over the following years. From a very high level, I’ll introduce some of the things that contributed significantly to growth throughout those years.

Professional networking

As a starter, I started taking advantage of the local networks for entrepreneurs in my area. The friend who appraised the family business invited me to join the local chapter of a marketing group that met monthly to discuss the world of sales and marketing. It required an investment of time; however, that soon paid off as I developed both a strategy and specific skills for marketing our products in a time when technology was changing rapidly and social platforms were rising and falling at warp speed. I also attended a number of “Business Smart” sessions put on by the local Chamber of Commerce in partnership with other organizations such as the local community college and business development groups.

Professionals

This networking introduced me to some professionals who became friends, advisors and some cases, people we hired for specific purposes. Within a relatively short time, I had met one of the best web developers in the area who was also in my marketing group. He introduced me to a local CPA who was specializing in serving small businesses as a fractional CFO and a local law firm that was especially good with small business. This led to a new banking relationship that fueled the next phase of growth.

Coaches

My relationship to coaching started in a most unique way. I was driving home after work one evening listening to the local radio station when a commercial aired that made me pull of the side of the road and write down a phone number. To give a very short version of what happened, that call led me to purchase a “Business Mastery System” that included 40 DVD’s, workbooks and personal coaching that was to significantly impact our growth as well. I worked through that material with a coach over the course of a year. The coaching experience was positive and led me to contract with another local coach who served for nearly two years. This outside voice became a trusted source of guiding business principles, best practices, and a resource for personal growth.

Peer Groups

Business peer groups form in many different ways, and over the years I was part of a number of different sorts of groups. The marketing group I mentioned earlier was one example. My next group was with Vistage, a global organization that has CEO peer advisory groups meeting in many cities. While I had to drive two hours each way each month, and the costs for such a group can be significant, it was an investment in my personal growth that fueled the continuing growth of the business. There are other such groups for different size companies bringing slightly different models. The concept, however, is really valuable. Business leaders spending time together in disciplined conversation about personal and business matters. Some of these also provide monthly one-on-one sessions with the group chair. Some are for-profit organizations and others are non-profits. I visited C12, a Christian organization and also was a member and chair in the Virginia Council of CEO’s. For a time, I led a local business group as well.

Other Resources

The simplest, and most easily accessible resources provided a solid platform for growth. Books, periodicals, podcasts, conferences and seminars are the backbone and fuel for any continued growth. Develop the habits of feeding the mind, growing as a leader so that you can raise the lid on growth in your company.

This was originally published in the Shed Builder Magazine here.