Can Growth Actually Be Toxic For Your Business?

A few weeks ago, I addressed this topic with my email subscribers and realized that the email was insufficient to fully address the topic. I received several responses to the email, so I thought I would bring it here and even solicit feedback from you on what healthy growth might look like in the upcoming year.

This is particularly important because just like every other business owner on the planet, this time between December 1st and the end of the year is often devoted to reflection and projection. 

You look back to see if you met your goals and then project forward to see how much further you want to grow in the next year. 

This process is normal because as humans, we’re naturally designed to nurture and watch things grow. 

But, one thing that has repeatedly come up after working with hundreds of business owners in different industries is this - where is the end? And is all growth actually good?

The Seeds of Growth

In Western Culture, the concept of “growth” has always stood for something positive and a value to embody.

Its seeds were planted roughly around the time of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. Before that time, growth was about 1/10th as it was today and before 1500, growth moved at a glacial pace.

Empires grew and fell, but the everyday person didn’t expect much in terms of economic growth or betterment. 

But that all changed with the Industrial Revolution. Suddenly things became accessible to everyone thanks in large part to advances in technology, agriculture and transportation. 

Cereal came in boxes, white bread became a staple and food could be transported across the country. These were all good things that allowed people to be more nourished and grow. 

Industries too began to grow and the idea of economic independence for families became and what now continues to be labeled The American Dream.

And behind that dream is the theory that growth is good.

When you grow as a person, you’re assumed to evolve.

When you grow as a business, you’re assumed to expand in numbers and people.

Growth is something we aim for and particularly in many western cultures - will do anything for. We often measure things by the growth we can demonstrate.

The bigger/better office space. The bigger home. The nicer car. We tend to value growth in all of its forms.

The one thing we don’t generally do, however? Question whether growth is really what we need and whether it’s really good for where we are right now.

The Toxic Growth Mindset

When I practiced law, there was this pervasive belief that existed in all law firms that if you (and those around you) weren’t billing above the required billable hours for the year, you weren’t doing enough. In fact, those people who simply billed the required hours did not get promoted as quickly as those who literally devoted themselves to the firm and never saw their families or friends.

It was often a badge of honor to kill yourself working long, hard hours. Those who left at a normal hour were often the subject of jokes or direct questioning. I can remember always feeling on edge and calculating in my brain if I had done enough to meet my personal threshold.

This kind of thinking isn’t unique to law firms.

It exists across different industries and can be part of a company’s culture when the business owner embodies this kind of belief system.

And the problem isn’t so much the expectation of hard work, but the expectation of sacrifice at all costs. It’s this notion that with growth must come some sort of toll - an exacting of sweat, blood and tears. 

Add to that the fact that growth is also defined too narrowly in most business environments.

Growth when defined as financial expansion, client acquisition and employee headcount can often lead to a drive to keep up the system. Work harder, longer and put as many demands on the system as it can take. 

That kind of thought process is what drives systems to “grow”, but often at the expense of its team members that it relies upon for its growth.

Whenever I work with a business, I look to see what kind of mindset and culture exists within a business because the glorification of busy within that business can be a sign that the business is completely stressed and doesn’t have the capacity to grow beyond its current state.

That’s true no matter the size of the company and here’s why. . . 

When numbers are prioritized over putting people in the right positions designed to utilize their strengths, burnout and turnover are high. Too often positions are filled based on resume qualifications that don’t reflect how the person will perform.

And it’s not that companies want to lose important people or don’t care to invest in them - in fact, it’s often the opposite. The truth is that fear and limiting beliefs around money often drive decision-making, instead of clarity of vision and purpose.

A People First Approach to Growth

What I try to do with businesses is help them see how creating a more self-driven, purposeful team is actually the key to help them grow effectively - not just adding more, but adding right.

By the time I connect with companies, they generally are seeing the stressors that are the result of toxic growth. They may have a robust revenue stream, but employees may be at capacity, communication waste is high and the business owner is still wearing too many hats - with insufficient time to focus on the things that matter for real growth. 

They may have a stressed or even resentful team that seems unmotivated and not aligned with the company vision. Often what I inform business owners is that it isn’t really true - they just are in an unhealthy growth cycle.

Which is why I come back to the fact that growth can actually be toxic. You see, if you’re simply chasing the bottom line - your business will likely be driven by the wrong things and that will create resentment, fear and frustration in the people that work with you.

In the long run, that’s simply not sustainable.

So, how do you prevent this? Or better yet? How do you know if your business is in a toxic growth cycle? Here are a few clues:

1. You as the business owner feel as if you are max’d out. Yet, you still take on more because you’re not sure who to give additional work to or you feel responsible for getting it all done.

2. You keep setting goals that you fall short of year after year. 

3. Your team is working at capacity and you are dealing with communication problems between team members.

4. You judge others who aren’t working as hard on your team (yet they are still working 40+ hours per week).

5. Your turnover is high.

You may even be experiencing resentment (you and your team) and dread going into work each day. 

If any of this resonates with you, the reality is you can shift out of a toxic growth mindset fairly quickly - and see better results when it comes to financial growth. 

Instead of focusing on the bottom line, I work with companies to dive first into mindset & a people first approach. You see there are two ways a company can grow - by force or by support.

People first team building focuses on guiding others to be self-driven - ready to support your growth, mission and feel fully motivated. In the end, they can’t help but show up. That is when you begin to see healthy growth which includes building leaders from within, more time to focus on high impact activities, client satisfaction and increased revenues.

But it can’t be done simply by demanding it. You have to begin by shifting your own mindset, understanding your team strengths and then aligning your actions from within.

If you’re curious about what this approach might look like for you and your business, I offer a complimentary 30-minute consultation where we can map out a growth plan that feels aligned with your vision. 

Schedule your session today and start 2024 with a better path for growth.

Linda

About Linda Perry: Linda a mindset coach & business strategist, speaker and recovering attorney who has helped hundreds of people crack their own success code and find greater freedom, make more money and find balance.

She spent 17 years as a federal criminal defense attorney in Chicago, and left only to pursue her passion in coaching and business strategy (particularly with a focus on marketing and copy) after witnessing how much it impacted her life and helped her redefine success. 

With certifications from the esteemed Ford Institute, established by best selling author and teacher Debbie Ford, and from the Levin Life Coach Academy, where she is the lead business instructor guiding life coaches how to build a profitable life coach business -  Linda works with business owners & agencies looking to develop a team poised to grow to $3-5M in revenue.

She is the host of the Higher Ground Roundtable and regularly is a guest speaker on a variety of podcasts and stages focused on using mindset tools to get further. Linda currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal but works remotely with teams around the world and frequently returns to the US to workshop with clients and their teams.