There comes a time in every young baseball player‘s career when he must learn to hit curveballs. It isn’t easy to learn this skill, and most kids struggle. With fastballs, it’s just a matter of focus, timing, and reflexes. Curveballs are often unpredictable, and anticipating ball movement can be pretty tricky. The same thing happens in business. First, you need to pick up the fundamentals. Much of this knowledge is easily acquired, and it is just a matter of applying what you learn. With certain skill sets, practice will make perfect. However, as you become more successful and the stakes get higher, the level of complexity will tend to increase in proportion to your level of success. It no longer becomes about fundamentals.
If you want to grow your company to the next level, your thinking and actions must be dynamic and proactive. You need to outthink the competition, anticipate market changes, build more sophisticated delivery systems, make strategic financial decisions, and focus on building high-performance work cultures rather than relying on interpersonal relationships. You need to be focused, but you also need to be quick on your feet and adaptable to shifting internal and external variables. You must get all the parts of your organization working harmoniously toward a common objective, regardless of what happens. You must be able to hit any pitches that come your way.
It can be hard to accept that you’ve grown your organization beyond your capacity to lead it. What’s worked in the past may no longer apply to the future. If you are not careful, you will become the biggest barrier to your organization’s success. Some leaders can move beyond hitting fastballs to managing curveballs, but then they also must learn how to hit sliders, sinkers, knuckleballs, off-speed pitches, etc. There is a reason so few people make the major leagues. Think about it. What other profession are you considered best in class if you are only successful 30% of the time? There is a similar reason that very few businesses ever grow above $5M and maintain consistent and reliable growth rates after that point. It is not just about hard work. It also requires skill and natural ability. Some things you can learn, others you cannot.
There is a difference between being the owner and being the CEO. As an owner, you want to receive the highest return on your investment given your mission objectives. As the CEO, you must build and maintain the business model to get there. While some individuals can effectively handle both roles for an extended period, others tend to plateau much sooner. Once you cannot consistently hit the pitches necessary to grow your company, find someone else who can and/or field a management team of people who make up for your shortcomings. Some of the best coaches were only average players, and every professional team needs a general manager.