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Every for-profit business shares a common reason for their existence – to make money, and not just enough to cover their expenses but to add value to their coffers. Companies do this by widening the gap between income and expenses to increase margins. Good companies do it well. Great companies do it better.
As I was thinking through our own growth at The Stahl Companies, I was reminded of the Jim Collins book, Built to Last. In it he explores 18 companies that have outperformed their competition for decades and the principles that lead to this success.
“Visionary companies pursue a cluster of objectives, of which making money is only one – and not necessarily the primary one.” – Jim Collins
Two of these objectives that remained paramount for each company year after year, was a passion for what they do and producing leaders. For some, the passion was producing leaders, but for all, these two objectives far outranked profits.
It was one thing to focus on producing a great leader or a great product but developing a tried-and-true approach to growing leaders from within not only ensured that leadership within the organization was never lacking but also gave the organization access to the next great leaders that would steer it into the future. Further, this allowed for each company to continue producing good ideas, good products, good research among which great ideas, great products, and great research would sprout up.
A major differentiator between the build to last companies and the average companies over time was that the average companies would see years of growth, even leading the industry under a strong leader, that would be followed by mediocrity again once that leader moved on. The built to last companies just seemed to replicate great leader after great leader year after year.
Coupling their leadership development obsession with their passion, took built to last companies to sustainable heights that consistently outperformed the S&P 500. The irony is that every one of these companies would say that they focused on their objectives and profits took care of themselves.
At The Stahl Companies, we’re obsessed with the health of our communities and the development of leaders among us. To be truly committed to the growth of others requires humility first. Like the desire you would have for your own children to be more successful than you, we must be willing to step aside and allow the next generation to pick up where we left off, then surpass us. There is no ego here, only a restlessness to improve, to grow the next generation of leaders for the health of our communities.
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