How to Be a Better Leader?

Know How to Manage Growth

Panelists of the McGill-HEC Montréal EMBA Entrepreneur Panel on “How to Manage Growth” highlighted three major traps to avoid as leaders managing the growth of their companies.

1) Thinking only about size

Robert Dutton, Adjunct Professor and Chair of the Advisory Committee of HEC Montréal École des dirigeants, who led Rona for over 20 years, warned entrepreneurs about a first major trap which is to take only the size of the company into account. “When a company grows, especially if it grows quickly, it’s not just the size that changes. It is its nature – its operation, its behavior, its relationship to its environment, its decision-making mechanisms”, he explained. It’s a lot like the growth of teenagers. They don’t just change in size, but also in the way they act, think and decide; an adult is much more than a child who’s doubled in size!”

2) Being a “one-man band”

Stéphane Rouleau (EMBA 2013), President and Cofounder of Innobec Technologies, a developer of multi-platform digital solutions, said he had been a “one-man band” for way too long, until he was forced to take a step back. That’s when he learned to delegate more and play the role of an orchestra conductor. Danny Macdonald (EMBA 2011), Vice President and Cofounder of Group Age3 recounted a similar experience. He even went as far as saying that he had to mourn his field work time. He who had always worked in the field, had to learn to leave this role to others so that he could have a real overview “at 10,000 feet in the air”, as he said. Finally, Philippe-Aubert Messier (EMBA 2013), Cofounder of Apollo Music Store, and his partner decided to hire a CEO to manage the company to free them up to focus on avenues for growing the company.

3) Giving too much or too little importance to planning

Our entrepreneurs did not fully agree on this point. On one hand, Philippe-Aubert argued for the importance of not planning too much in order to remain flexible, open to new ideas and opportunities, and to be able to test ideas quickly. He said that “growth comes more from audacity than planning.” Danny explained that although the plan is important, entrepreneurs should keep in mind that it is impossible to be optimal in every aspect and that it is better to design a plan for one to three years maximum, and to avoid the five year plan. Guy Gervais (EMBA 2013), entrepreneur and angel investor, took a different point of view, explaining that when the business becomes more mature, the plan becomes essential.