Operationally Mature
The most evolved scalers are oftentimes the more well-known names on the market.
Successfully scaling a mature business requires a strategic approach, strong execution capabilities, and the ability to adapt to the evolving needs of the organisation and the market.
Even the largest and very often most operationally engineered companies are always striving to ‘scale’. The growth objective never goes away and neither does it diminish once a company has achieved a certain milestone. Those organisations who become complacent or stop innovating often miss their biggest threat, the agile disruptors who have fine tuned their offering to be right for right now and future proofed their solutions.
So, what are some of the key characteristics that are needed in the leadership teams of these organisations?
Andie Rees, Partner in Singapore and a leader of the Scale Up Collective in Asia Pacific provides his insight:
Whether the organisation is transforming, pivoting, adding new lines of business or striving for operational excellence, clarity of the vision and clear communication of the road ahead must be at the top of the list.
Andie Rees, Managing Partner - Technology Practice, Odgers Berndtson APAC
Ownership and accountability are key, as is the resilience to keep moving forward but with the foresight to adapt and flex when needed.
David Bell, Head of Scale Up Collective, Odgers Berndtson UK
Perhaps the evolution of the company culture can be the most challenging of all as companies get to this stage of their trajectory. Many businesses which have reached this stage of growth have been hyperscalers and have reached this phase quickly. The dilemma for businesses therefore is how to retain the company culture which helped them achieve success, (often a scrappy, growth-minded DNA), whilst hiring leaders needed to elevate and continue growth in a mature manner. Navigating scale, and building consistency into the business is essential, however leaders must still be measured on their ability to adapt, make changes and lean-into teams when needed.
David Bell, Head of the Scale Up Collective in the UK drew some market comparisons:
As Notion Capital outlined in their data project, The Unicorn Trajectory: “Businesses that become Unicorns hire leaders at 7x the rate of businesses that don’t become Unicorns, during the first 5 years after raising”. Therefore, getting the right talent in place is a critical component helping companies on their journey to scale. Maintaining effective communication, decision-making processes and maintaining a cohesive culture often becomes more challenging, particularly if there are multiple locations or departments worldwide. As businesses scale, there is a risk of becoming bureaucratic and slow to respond to market changes. Bringing in new leaders, maintaining agility, fostering a growth mindset, and adapting to evolving market dynamics are essential to staying competitive.