30 Years and 40,000 Business Leaders Later: It’s Still About These 4 Things!

Posted by Chuck Kocher
On October 13, 2014

ScalingUp2When Verne Harnish released Mastering the Rockefeller Habits in 2002, the book was groundbreaking. The principles in the book however, go back even further. Over a period of 30 years, Harnish has helped more than 40,000 business leaders scale up their businesses, improve their results, and enjoy the whole process.

After all that time, the fundamentals for making that happen remain these four pillars:

  1. Attracting and keeping the right People
  2. Creating a truly differentiated Strategy
  3. Driving flawless Execution
  4. Having plenty of Cash to weather the storms

Mastery of those four things is why some companies (a few really) make it, while the rest don’t. Those things are what turn small start-up companies into companies that scale up and leap (like gazelles) to new heights.

Some things never change!

Business, on the other hand, is in a constant state of change. And that is precisely the reason for Scaling Up: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits 2.0. Because while the basic decisions business leaders have to make still center on people, strategy, execution, and cash—the landscape looks dramatically different.

There are plenty of “philosophy of business” books out there. Some of them are really good. But what Scaling Up does is more than just talk about the theory of business and why it’s important. It includes specific tools (lists, forms, charts, illustrations) that you can actually use in your business to master the four fundamentals—and grow your business. It’s all about doing the right things. The book even concludes with a section called: 5 Things to Do Now.

These aren’t tools for “overnight success.” These are time-tested tools that build the disciplines you need to take your company from a small start-up to one that can dominate an industry over time.

Almost anyone can start a company. Some people even have great products and services, and ideas with incredible potential. But very few figure out how to scale up that small business and grow it into a powerhouse that is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. If that’s what you want to do with your company, I have three words for you:

Read this book!