Your Middle Market organization has surely gone through many changes, updates and probably a little upheaval. It hasn’t been smooth sailing as you’ve grown to your current size. Possibly you have much of the original team members you hired or at least a few who are still onboard. As your size, customers, challenges and successes have shifted, has your thinking? Have your employees been able to adapt and stay relevant or is their thinking outdated?
Are Your Teams Current Or Stuck In The Past?
If you take a few minutes to evaluate your leadership and teams, can you objectively say they are forward thinking, innovative and adept at shifting to new ways of thinking? Or, do they rely too heavily on past experiences and resist change? If your Middle Market organization is more like the first example, congratulations! It’s probably really easy for you to be progressive. You likely are consistently bringing in new ideas that keep refining and improving your company.
If you realize you are more like the second example, you likely have some work to do. Especially if your leaders and employees are very resistant to any thought of change and you feel your success is being hindered because of it.
How To Gauge Where You Are
Potentially, you don’t feel your organization is closed off to change. This can be especially true for those employees who have been with it since the first days. You may feel you’ve come a long way, been very adaptive and have had to change many processes from your early beginnings. So, you might need an outside perspective.
Start by asking newer staff members. How do they feel your organization does at being receptive to change? When they came into your Middle Market company did they feel they could speak their mind, share their suggestions or was it very closed off? How do your C-Suite, leadership and management teams react to change or suggestions for new ways of thinking?
If you don’t have anyone newer to bounce these thoughts off, poll your entire staff. Does everyone agree that it feels a bit dated and stuffy? Have teams or individuals been hoping to implement some changes and feel they have been resisted? If your teams can’t provide an accurate picture, it might be time to consider an outside perspective. Spending a little bit of time and money with a consultant, board of advisors or even a trusted connection could be very helpful in evaluating your companies openness for change.
Why Does This Matter?
If you are well established and have things fine-tuned and running well, it might be hard to see why being more innovative or open to change is necessary. For starters, is running well the same as playing it too safe? Is your Middle Market firm missing opportunities because you’d rather be comfortable? Is your growth prohibited or restricted? Think about bringing on or retaining employees. Have you had issues getting fresh blood into your organization because of your policies or thoughts on change? Do you find you bring in high-energy employees with lots of ideas but they very quickly leave or become completely different? If so, it may be that you’re not as adaptable and open to change as they need.
Being flexible, forward-thinking and adaptable isn’t the same for every organization and you may feel you are perfectly fine where you’re at. But, it is good to review how current your organization is and make sure you aren’t limiting your success or attractiveness by staying stuck in the past.
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