Organizational growth does not happen through mere wishful thinking. Organizational growth takes place through strategic thinking and leaders are usually the drivers of these strategic thoughts. To see that organizations, grow as they ought to grow; the leaders are usually deliberate about their plans and actions, coupled with a great zeal. Growth is something every organization desire, irrespective of their size. It is the dream of every small organization to grow big, and it is also the dream of big organizations to get bigger. As a matter of fact, there is a saying that the only thing that is constant in life is change. No one really desires to remain static; every one desire change at one point or the other, and this is also applicable to organizations. And for organizations to really grow, leaders must have strategies in place that would drive such growth at every point in time.
Listen to Podcast: Leadership and Organizational Growth Strategies
There is a story we would be considering today in the Bible that is going to serve as a focal point for our discourse in this podcast. That story is found in the book of Nehemiah chapter 4 and we are going to be reading a few verses there, beginning from verse 6. The Bible says: “so we built the wall, and all [of it] was joined together to half its height, for the people had a heart and mind to work.” Now, what can we glean from here? The starting point for any organizational growth is the desire for growth and the enthusiasm that drives that desire. If the leader does not inspire this desire in the hearts of the team members, there is every tendency for everyone in the team to be complacent and not see the need for growth. If you take a careful look at the verse again, you would see the word “we” talking about the leader and the team. So, from here, we would see that the first strategy to organizational growth is a collective noun, ‘WE’, indicating that the growth responsibilities of the organization is a collective one. The leader alone cannot do it, and so, it must be a collaborative effort.
Let us jump to verse 14-15 and see a few things there. It says: “Therefore, I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” One of the many things that leaders do is that they inspire their team into achieving the impossible. If you see a team or a group of people that is ready to conquer the world against all odds, it is because there is a leader who is inspiring them. Achieving any form of growth is a product of desire plus enthusiasm plus inspiration. These three things, a leader must be ready to instill in his team at all times if they would achieve the needed organizational growth.
There is this quote by Christen Killick on inspiration that I love so much. It says: “Inspiration is the meeting point of authenticity, values and belief. In order for people to be inspired, they must feel that the cause is genuine, they must value it personally on some level, and they must believe that it is possible together, even if it seems impossible alone.” Even in the face of oppositions, Nehemiah was able to inspire the people and the seemingly opposition became their stepping stone into what they wanted to achieve.
Let us jump to verse 14-15 and see a few things there also. It says: “So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. 18 Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.” From these verses that I just read to us, you would discover one thing that Nehemiah did. He ensured that there was no weak link through which the opposition could take advantage of to hinder their progress. What is a weak link? A weak link is the weakest part of a something or a whole. For example, a weak link could be the least dependable member of a team, that one person who would not get his own part of the job done.
Recently, I had the privilege of analyzing why a particular organization failed in meeting the deadline set for the unveiling of a new product. Everything that they needed for the unveiling of the said product appeared to be great on the surface and on paper, however, they still failed at unveiling the said product. After careful examination, it was discovered that the mid-level leader of the organization was the reason for why the unveiling could not happen as planned. That is an example of a weak link. So, from those verses we read, we saw how Nehemiah ensured that everyone was doing what they were supposed to do and how they should be done. So, part of the organizational growth strategies is that the leader ensures there are no weak links that would serve as a form of hindrance to the growth of the organization.
Let us jump to verse 21-23 and see a few things there also. It says: “So, we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. 22 At the same time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.” 23 So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.” From here, we could see that everyone was seeing to be doing his or her part of the work. There was no room for complacency or idleness whatsoever. For growth to take place in any organization, both the leader and the team members must be seeing to be doing their own part of the task. There must be synergy and coordination at every level and there must also be some level of accountability as well.
I believe you have learnt something!
This is where we are going to draw the curtains on today’s episode of Leaderview. Please don’t forget to share this podcast with your friends, drop your comments in the comments section and let me know your thoughts on what we have shared with ourselves today. Till next time on Leaderview, stay leading and stay growing your organization.
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
