Successful leaders are smart enough to know that they’re not smart enough to know it all. And neither are their employees. So they surround themselves with a network of external resources who are vital to their success.
That was one of the main conclusions from The Breakthrough Company, by Keith McFarland. McFarland and his team looked at over 7000 fast-growing, mid-sized companies to determine which ones sustained strong growth, which ones stalled, and why.
Nine companies were identified as breakthrough companies. A common practice of those companies is that they regularly used external resources like advisory boards, customer councils, industry experts and consultants, and that they had high expectations of them.
Breakthrough companies are open to and value outside expertise. Non-breakthrough companies are more insular and don’t value outside partnerships as much.
Access the resources you need to access. It doesn’t matter if they’re not employees. What matters is if they can help you win.
Your thoughts?
Michael
