THE BREAKTHROUGH COMPANY

THE LADDER ASSESSMENT REPORT

YOUR LADDER SCORE

VILLAGE ELDERS: Your responses indicate that your company has many of
the characteristics of the Village Elders stage of development. This is a fairly
mature stage along the path to “crowning the company,” and the final rung
beneath the ultimate “Sovereign Organization” level.

Companies often enter the Village Elders stage in response to substantial

growth or increased complexity. These companies realize that the challenges
of tomorrow will require better process and systems, and a broader dispersion
of power and authority among an increasingly able and responsible team of
managers. The Village Elders organizations typically have capable leaders of
major functions and departments who often form a senior executive decision-
making group.

Functional areas such as sales, production, and finance in Village Elders

companies generally function independently, without close supervision from
the president or CEO. Vice presidents often create initiatives to improve
divisional or functional performance, often without coordination or involvement
from other groups in the company. They strive to recruit and develop talent
within their departments. The CEO typically leads and mentors functional
heads, and steers the Village Elders in strategic leadership.
STEPPING UP TO THE NEXT RUNG

What your LADDER Score Means Most successful organizations that reach a certain size are managed by a
group of Village Elders—managers who are experts in a functional discipline
A company in the Village Elder stage has shown an ability to adapt and or who are skilled at running a region or division. The challenge is to knit
evolve to meet the changing demands of business growth. The company has together their organization into a whole that is greater than the sum of its
passed an important test—to move from a single leader driven organization parts—a Sovereign Organization. To do this, the leadership team of a company
to one driven by independent executives seeking for functional excellence. must:
One should be encouraged that “crowning the company” is within reach, and
• Create a vision for the organization that people can connect to on a visceral
an achievable goal. At the same time, there are inherent weaknesses and
level—and which causes them to feel a sense of commitment to the orga-
risks associated with this stage which need to be recognized and carefully
nization that supersedes even their commitment to their own department
managed.
or division. This is most successfully done by focusing the attention of
While management excellence of functional departments or regional divisions is people throughout the company on the needs of the customer.
a worthy objective, it can sometimes come at the price of waning commitment to
• A common understanding and sense of mutual trust must be cultivated
overall company goals. As strong managers take on key functional or regional
among key functional and divisional leaders in an organization.
roles, people in those departments or divisions may feel a great sense of identi-
fication with their own department or division than they do to the company as a • The strategic brain trust of an organization should be expanded to include
whole. A silo mentality may set in, with competing objectives and insufficient co- key middle managers, outstanding sales leaders, and promising “up and
ordination and communication. If departmental vice presidents are unwilling to comes.” Regular (we suggest quarterly) sessions should be held with the
share personnel in an effort to better develop and cross-fertilize talent, this may expanded group to discuss how to leverage the company’s capabilities
result in counterproductive battles for resources funding and senior manage- for continued growth.
ment attention. If attention is not focused on a shared vision for the future, the
• The organization needs to institutionalize development of talent in such
entrepreneurial “sense of place” that made the organization so special in earlier
a way that it encourages people “connect the dots” strategically and to
stages may be lost.
contribute meaningfully to strategy by identifying key opportunities for
improvement in their areas of work.
*This LAR Score is not intended to provide a complete and final assessment of an
organization’s stage of development, which would naturally require a more in-depth
organizational analysis. Rather, it is intended to stimulate thought and discussion in
an organization about the path toward crowning the company.