Will Your Organization Survive Corporate Adolescence?
Corporate adolescence is the awkward stage in a company’s life when it's no longer small, but not large. Companies must recognize when they're in it.
Corporate adolescence is the awkward stage in a company’s life when it's no longer small, but not large. Companies must recognize when they're in it.
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This guest blog from Navigate‘s founding partner, Bill Sharer, defines what it means to be a corporate adolescence and helps you identify 5 points to tell if your organization is going through that phase.
Without even defining corporate adolescence, you can figure out what it means. It’s a term I like to use to describe that awkward stage in a company’s life when they are no longer small—but not yet large. You have some of the characteristics of each but are not quite one or the other. And it’s downright uncomfortable.
Almost everyone survives human adolescence (somehow). Unfortunately, the mortality rate for companies is somewhat higher: some don’t. But the odds of corporate survival go up dramatically if you recognize its characteristics, acknowledge that you are in it, and learn to cope with it. One thing is certain: you won’t put it behind you by just waiting for it to pass.
Corporate adolescence can occur within a wide range of descriptions. It has little to do with how long you’ve been in business. Some companies enter it in a couple years. Others take ten or more. The important things to remember are to recognize it when it is upon you and be proactive about working your way through it. Here are some thoughts that may help.
You are probably a corporate adolescent if:
Sound familiar? Step back, breathe deeply. You can fix this.
Stay tuned for our next blog post, “Will Your Organization Survive Corporate Adolescence: The Survival Guide” to learn steps on how to mature your company to where you want it to be.
Bill Sharer, MBA, CTS, is a thirty-year veteran of consulting and training, twenty-five of it in the audio-visual industry. He has held sales executive positions in addition to owning and managing his on firms. Bill has completed hundreds of consulting assignments in sales, marketing, management, communications, and customer service, and has trained more than 15,000 people on four continents. He has designed and led two dozen InfoComm training programs and has been the featured speaker at scores of trade association and corporate events. He has served on the Professional Education and Training Committee for InfoComm, is a Senior Faculty Member at InfoComm University, and was Educator of the Year in 2003. A former Vistage Chair, Bill has done extensive work in training and coaching. He is on the Board of The Association for Quality in Audio-Visual Technology, Inc. (AQAV) and an outside Director of a Property and Casualty Insurance Carrier. His MBA is in Management and Marketing from Temple University and his A.B. in English from Dickinson College.