Leading at the Speed of Growth
By Cattin and Mathews
Hungry Minds, 2001 - 220 Pages

I found this book to be very insightful and refreshing. I have been reading about 2-3 books on leadership/marketing/business for the past 3 months as I have considered going the entrepreneurial route. If you are an entrepreneur or thinking about becoming one I highly recommend you read this book. Why?

This book clearly illustrates to the entrepreneur the different skill sets he/she will have to adopt over the long-term if your company is on a high-growth trajectory. Have you ever noticed that most CEOs aren't the person that founded the company? I have seen many founders resign, step aside to bring in more seasoned managers, etc. The United States is such a successful country because of our capital formation and entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurs create a huge number of jobs as capital and people are always seeking out companies they believe can change the way a certain business is done.

Lets say you have money, you have growth, and you have employees. What do you do to manage these different constituencies and grow the company so you will still be around to see the company prosper? This book clearly provides the roadmap (almost like a blueprint for the fast-growing CEO to adhere to.)

About the Author: Katherine Catlin has helped CEOs and their executive teams manage the challenges of fast-paced growth for the past 15 years. Founding partner of the Catlin Group, a consulting firm in Hingham, Massachusetts, that works with entrepreneurial companies nationwide, she created and leads High Growth CEO Forums where CEOs regularly meet to exchange ideas, challenges, and best practices for growth. Catlin also developed Building the Profit Spiral™, a proven growth-planning process, and established a Web site for CEOs, ceoexchange.com, that provides ideas and information on growth issues. Jana Matthews left her own company in 1993 and joined the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership to research, design, and develop programs that would help entrepreneurs grow their companies. Working with the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (YEO) and other successful entrepreneurs, she and her team created CD-ROMs, Kauffman Gatherings of Entrepreneurs, materials for entreworld.org, and Web-casts. Author of several books, Matthews has founded three companies, including Boulder Quantum Ventures. In her spare time she fly-fishes in New Zealand.