Business is like a body which has real limits like maximum heart rate and imagined limits like how fast we think we can go.
Lambertville, MI (PRWEB) February 20, 2017
What do Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Nokia, and Samsung all have in common? They’re all examples of businesses that grew too fast or too slow and as a result experienced a large loss of value and de-motivated employees.
"Pacing for Growth," a new book by Dr. Alison Eyring, an organizational psychologist, growth expert, CEO of global consultancy Organisation Solutions, and endurance athlete, shows businesses how to find the right pace for success. Published by Berrett-Koehler, the book is available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon and at all major booksellers.
Technology is changing the world at such a rapid pace that many businesses and their people feel like they can’t keep up. Business models are being eradicated. People are burning the proverbial candle at both ends. And, corporations, consumed by growth and addicted to action are focused on short-term returns for shareholders at the expense of their business’s ability to thrive long-term and the well-being of employees.
But as anyone who has trained for a long-distance race or competed in a triathlon will tell you, the right pace—in training and the race itself—wins. Go too fast and push too hard and you, and your business, can burn out. Go too slow and you get left in the dust.
Eyring, who competes in ultra-marathons and triathlons, says “business is like a body” which has real limits like maximum heart rate and imagined limits like how fast we think we can go.
From her work with clients like American Express, Four Seasons, Shell, Airbnb, and Google (which recently hosted a book launch party at its Singapore headquarters), along with her ultra-racing, Eyring knows it’s important to practice what she’s coined, “Intelligent Restraint”—a philosophy that helps leaders find the right speed for the long-term growth of their business while helping people manage the energy needed to sustain high levels of performance and to develop themselves for the future.
Intelligent Restraint guides leaders to engage entire employees and communities in defining what their maximum capacity looks like, and to identify how best to prepare for and thrive in this future.
"Pacing for Growth" shares the practical tenets of Intelligent Restraint, backed by three decades of experience and scientific research.
Businesses that practice Intelligent Restraint can:
- Avoid the wasted effort and pain of boom-splat cycles of growth;
- Conserve, replace and replenish energy the organization needs for long-term performance;
- Build important growth capabilities faster and cheaper; and
- Learn how to perform while preparing for the future at a winning pace.
"Pacing for Growth" uniquely weaves in Eyring’s journey as an ultra-athlete using its principles by which people expand a body’s capacity to go faster and farther as a metaphor to expanding the capacity of an organization and build the capabilities for future growth—all while genuinely supporting the people who work so hard to make it happen.
It has already received rave reviews:
- “A compelling read drawing parallels from sport and applying them to the business world. It provides a no-nonsense approach for leaders wanting to simultaneously build capabilities and capacity for sustained healthy growth.” —Marko Ilincic, SVP & Head of Asia Pacific, The LEGO Group
- “Delivering growth is a prerogative for almost every business leader. 'Pacing for Growth' draws a compelling distinction between simply delivering growth and creating a sustainable advantage in the process of delivering growth. The book reinforces that the ‘how' matters and provides simple principles that can inspire leaders to accomplish sustained growth.”—Karthik Rao, President, Nielsen
- “I applaud Alison’s call for intelligent restraint before we blindly dash to the next challenge. Her expert advice and counsel is second-to-none, and I promise your organization will achieve more in the long run if you accept her wise counsel!” —Jim Kouzes, co-author of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge and the Dean’s Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University
- “As CEO, I am constantly faced with the tension of leading a successful company to execute our core business and, at the same time, prepare ourselves for the future. 'Pacing for Growth' gives leaders a new approach to solving this inherent paradox.”—Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group
More information about Intelligent Restraint can be found on the community’s Facebook page.
Pacing for Growth
By Alison Eyring
Berrett Koehler Publishing
Feb. 6, 2017
192 pages
Paperback, $19.95; Kindle, $9.99
ISBN-10: 1626568170
ISBN-17: 978-1626568174
About Dr. Alison Eyring
Dr. Alison Eyring is a global thought leader on building organizational capacity for growth. Founder and chief executive of Organisation Solutions, as well as an endurance athlete and trained organizational psychologist, Alison has 25 years of experience in large-scale organization design and change and executive development. She works closely with global and regional executives from Fortune/FTSE 500 and some of the world’s most innovative high-growth companies on leadership and growth. She is also Adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore Business School. For more information about her book, Pacing For Growth, visit the book page.