Scale-up with PK!

The best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing - said Theodore Roosevelt.

It’s the actions that change the world - not the ideas, not the thoughts. Not even decisions.

People become who they are, because of what they do.

It’s interesting that, though many may have similar ideas, thoughts, and many may decide to do chosen things, only those who act upon them move.

There exists a gap between the thoughts and actions, the decisions and the doing. And it’s pertinent.

The question therefore is - Am I actioning enough on the things that I decide to do, things that I want to do, things that I need to do, to reach where I want to reach?

My name is PK Narayanan

Wishing you the best, Thank you.

#ceo #scaleup #leadership #business

Creating and Keeping Business Fitness is a Key Enabler for Scaling-up. This would mean creating and maintaining People Fitness, Functional Fitness, Market Fitness and avoiding Fat in the belly!

People Fitness happens when we have the Right People in Right Roles. Businesses need to manage the current and emerging role requirements pro-actively, nurturing, developing and acquiring talent in a conscious way.

Functional fitness is making sure that each function in the Business are fit-enough to meet and fulfil Scaling-up

Market fitness is ensuring a proper Product - Market fit for our Products or Services on an ongoing basis.

Often, alongside the Scaling-up - which leads to processing increased volumes across the business - also arises a tendency to accumulate fat, in the form of redundancies, inefficiencies, wastage, and duplication; usually in all wrong places. It’s important that the business keeps a constant vigil to avoid them, and maintain agility, efficiency and effectiveness in all its business operations.

Business Fitness leads to Excellence in Execution.

Creating and keeping ‘Business Fitness’ is thus a key enabler in a scaling-up process.

Is my business fit enough?

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you

 #ceo #leadership #scaleup

A lot is said about dealing with Failures. We have also heard 'failure is the stepping stone to success'. Is it so?

Amazon's Jeff Bezos points out that failures are broadly of two kinds - therefore to be dealt with differently.

1. Experimental failure - 'When we are developing a new product or service or experimenting in some way, and it doesn't work, that's okay - that's the kind of failure you should be happy with', Bezos says. 'These are the big, bold bets that move the needle'.

With the learning, it could become the stepping stone for success.

2. Operational failure - 'We've built hundreds of fulfilment centers at Amazon over the years, and we know how to do that. If we build a new fulfilment center and it's a disaster, that's just bad execution. That's not good failure,' Bezos explains.

If we fail in something that we already know or should know how to do, that's not something to celebrate.

In that sense, failure is not quite a stepping stone to success all the time.

Distinguishing the kind of failure may provide us with the insights as to how to deal with them.

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you.

Leaders face criticism. 

Overcoming criticism is one thing, overcoming the fear of criticism is another.

Often, it’s the fear of criticism that kills creativity, innovation, and new initiatives. It’s important therefore to deal with the fear of criticism, in a timely manner.

How do I deal with the fear of criticism?

Aristotle once said, ‘There is only one way to avoid criticism: Do nothing, say nothing and be nothing’.

One way of looking at it, is that anything worth doing attracts admiration and criticism. It’s therefore a question of whether I want to be judged or ignored?

Another approach is to see that our hunger for success out-weighs the fear of criticism.

A third approach could be to separate the person from the action - considering criticism as an opportunity to learn and

As a Leader, how am I dealing with the fear of criticism?

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you

#ceo #leadership #scaleup

Scaling up is a dream for many entrepreneurs - Yet, research shows only 4% businesses scale-up successfully.

Every business has two sides - 'what's inside' and 'what others see'.

When we move 'what others see' into 'what Prospects see', magic happens; it paves the way for Scaling-up!

That’s about positioning - choosing 'where to play'.

When you set up your business to appeal to everyone, it ends up appealing to no one, says Laurel Staples.

That's true.

We need to set up our business in a way that appeals to our Prospects – what our Prospects see.

Choosing 'where to play'  -  in terms of market segment, geography, price point, ticket size…

That's in a way choosing our play arena  -  narrowing down the market we intend to serve, ie. the population of Prospects, so that we become relevant, we serve better, and we serve more of them. That’s scaling up!

When 'Prospects' start seeing us, the 'pull' also happens in due course, alongside the push.

Scaling-up is a possibility for every business  -  and choosing 'where to play' is an important part of that process.

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you

#ceo #leadership #scaleup

The swiftest way to grow your company is to grow your people, says Robin Sharma.

As a leader, I need to influence, inspire and enable my team. Alongside, I need to consciously grow them as well!

How do we do that?

To be effective, every role in the business needs to be operated by people fulfilling 3 aspects: Competencies, Capabilities and Cultural alignment.

As a leader, we need to make sure that every role in the business is played by people having necessary competencies to deliver that role, has appropriate capabilities to deliver results in the role, and is culturally aligned to Company’s values, attitudes, behaviours and standards.

Therefore, in a way, growing people means developing necessary competencies in them, enhancing their skills and capabilities, and aligning them towards the company culture.

As a leader, am I growing my people consciously?

What else could I be doing to develop their competencies, enhance their capabilities, and align them towards the company culture?

It’s an essential part of Scaling-up!

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you

#ceo #leadership #scaleup #business

Research shows that only 4% businesses scale-up successfully. The rest either survive or perish.

Why is it so? Why the success percentage is in lower single digits?

The reasons are many. The good news though, is that we have vast potential to improve that number!

The Top 5 reasons cited, why businesses don't scale-up successfully, are as follows:

1.  Lack of focus - Lack of clear positioning, lack of alignment of internal resources to business purpose / goals

2. Not being dynamic enough – being too fixed, rigid; not being open, flexible, agile

3. Lack of preparation - on multiple areas, functions, on enablements needed

4. Fear-based approach - lack of growth-based thinking; dis-empowering, self-defeating beliefs and thought processes

5. Execution blues - lacking excellence in execution

Scale-up is a possibility for every business. It’s about doing what only 4% business owners and leaders do successfully. It’s about executing a winning strategy!

Do we have a winning strategy? Are we executing it well?

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best!

Thank you

What we focus on expands.

As a leader therefore, it’s essential that we choose consciously where to focus on; and stay focused on the right areas, for what we focus on expands.

Also, it makes sense to focus on what we want more of - than what we want less of; for example, focusing on accuracy than mistakes.

This universal law plays up significantly in our daily life - In our business, profession, people,  relationships...

‘Focus on the track, as your car goes where your eyes go’ - said race car legend Mario Andretti as the key to winning races without crashing.

‘When I get to the middle I look for the gaps, not the fielders’ - said famous cricketer Ricky Ponting.

As a leader it’s essential we stay focused on the right areas, for what we focus on expands.

Are we focusing on the right areas?

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you

Extra ordinary things get done outside our comfort zones.

When we go out of our comfort zones, when we operate outside our comfort zones, it’s normal that we feel vulnerable. In those times, we may find supporters and naysayers - often, more of the latter.

How do we deal with that?

Happened to come across this interesting anecdote.

Once a tiny frog attempted to climb a tall-wall. A group of frogs immediately got in to act yelling ‘Oh, it’s way too difficult’, ‘You will never make it to the top’, ‘It’s too risky’, ‘absolutely no chance’, ‘it’s impossible’, ‘are you crazy?’...

And the tiny frog kept climbing and reached the top of the wall. Everyone kept wondering how it was possible!

The tiny frog turned out to be a deaf one.

Extra ordinary things get done outside our comfort zones. How are we dealing with the naysayers?

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you

Building Intangibles in the Business - Are We Doing it Consciously?

Intangibles accounted for 90% of the overall business valuation of Standard & Poor 500 in year 2020. In 1975, it was 17%.

Building, enhancing Intangibles in the business is therefore essential to create long-term value.

How do businesses do that, in a conscious way?

First and foremost, it requires thinking beyond ROI for every decision that we make. It requires planning and strategising beyond the quarter.

Second, it requires investment in people, in leaders, in teams; and nurturing talent, within the business.

Third is building a Brand, backed by values, culture, reputation and recall – that includes building and nurturing positive relationships, consciously, at

Successful businesses prioritize on building Intangibles over long-term; which in turn creates long-term value.

It’s worth recalling what Tony Hsieh of Zappos once famously said - “Just because you can’t measure the ROI of

My name is PK Narayanan, wishing you the best! Thank you