Alison Eyring - Pacing for Growth: Why Intelligent Restraint Drives Long-term Success

Pacing for Growth takes a fresh look at growth from a personal and professional perspective, offering an innovative way to approach one of the biggest challenges in organizations, no matter their size. Its a good read not only if you are seeking success for your company but also if you are looking for a way to drive innovation and make a positive and lasting impact.

Cesar Cernuda, President, Microsoft Latin America

Delivering growth is a prerogative for almost every business leader. Pacing for Growth draws a compelling distinction between simply delivering growth and creating a sustainable advantage in the process of delivering growth. The book reinforces that the how matters and provides simple principles that can inspire leaders to accomplish sustained growth.

Karthik Rao, President, Nielsen

Pacing for Growth is a great reminder that the best businesses grow value by combining continuous improvement with successful innovation. Creating the capacity for growth is a long race, and Alison Eyring gives leaders around the globe practical advice on what it takes to win.

Mark Gainsborough, Executive Vice President, New Energies, Royal Dutch Shell

Pacing for Growth is a compelling read drawing parallels from sports and applying them to the business world. It provides a no-nonsense approach for leaders wanting to simultaneously build capabilities and capacity for sustained healthy growth.

Marko Ilincic, Senior Vice President and Head of Asia and Pacific, The LEGO Group

Pacing for Growth is a provocative discussion on what really works to accelerate personal and organizational success. I see threads in what Alison describes as Intelligent Restraint in agile methodologiesi.e., sprint, test, refine. Ultimately, we all need to slow down at times to go fast. I highly recommend Pacing for Growth.

Mike Dulworth, President and CEO, Executive Networks, Inc.

Intelligent Restraint so clearly articulates the tension between pace and endurance and demonstrates why entrepreneurial businesses must adhere to the less is more principle. Authoritative and packed with compelling evidence from both academic research and practice, this book will forever change how you think about growth and the people side of business success.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, CEO, Hogan Assessment Systems, and Professor of Business Psychology, University College London and Columbia University

Intelligent Restraint is a great concept that organizations can use to build capacity for the future with the right discipline and pace. Alison Eyrings powerful triathlon analogy makes it an easy and interesting read. Clearly, Intelligent Restraint can be applied to the challenges we face in both our business and personal lives.

Umran Beba, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Human Capital Management, Services and Operations, PepsiCo

Alison Eyring is a remarkable storyteller! Pacing for Growth drives home the importance of self-awareness, endurance, and good coaching for all business leaders, wherever they are in their growth curve.

Vladimir Makatsaria, Company Group Chairman, Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices (Asia Pacific)

Pacing for Growth

Why Intelligent Restraint Is Key for Long-Term Success

Alison Eyring

Copyright 2017 by Alison Eyring

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First Edition

Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-62656-817-4

PDF ebook ISBN 978-1-62656-818-1

IDPF ebook ISBN 978-1-62656-819-8

2016-1

Interior design and production: Dovetail Publishing Services

Cover designer: Brad Foltz

Author photo: Alexander Manton

This book is dedicated to my loving husband James, whose love and support made this book possible. And to our fabulous daughters Susan and Megan: may you find ways to practice Intelligent Restraint for a more fulfilling career and a satisfying life!

Many years ago, a friend and I went surfing on Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles. At the time, I was a student of Nichiren Shoshu, a Buddhist sect that encourages chanting to overcome suffering and bring about good in the world.

Even though I was not an advanced surfer, I was anxious to test my skill against a big wave. But the waves were small that day, so I chanted the signature Nichiren chant:

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

After a time, a giant wave rolled toward us! I tried to surf itand broke my neck in two places.

This story came to mind as I read Alison Eyrings excellent book. Pacing for Growth is a welcome corrective to the dysfunctionalyet incredibly commonbelief that pushing past our limits is the best strategy for growth, in business, and in life. I tried to grow too fast that day on Manhattan Beach, and I still have the scars to prove it.

Many organizations and their leaders could stand to learn this lesson. Ive been an executive coach for more than three decades, and over that time I have seen exceptional and promising people burn the proverbial candle at both ends, only to flame out spectacularly. In a way, its hard to blame them. In our culture, heroes are overachievers who break down barriers to do the impossible. Movies, books, and TV shows are full of rogues and mavericks who drive themselves past the breaking point to accomplish a mission.

This kind of character might be very successful in fiction, but reality is another matter. Theres not as much drama in working within ones proven capacity to produce results, but as Alison argues cogently in these pages, thats what works. Growing too fast creates breakthroughs in the short term, but that kind of success doesnt last. Anyone who drives too hard is bound to crash and burn.