Pacing for Growth Why Intelligent Restraint Drives Long-term Success

Go the Distance!

Whether you’re running a race or running a company, pacing is everything. Go too fast and you’ll burn yourself out—too slow and you’re left in the dust. So how can leaders find the right speed? Growth expert Alison Eyring, who is also a long-distance runner and triathlete, found the answer in endurance training.

It’s a concept she calls Intelligent Restraint. Eyring shows leaders how to evaluate their company’s and team’s current capacity for growth and identify the right capabilities and pacing strategies to increase growth steadily and sustainably. She masterfully weaves physiological and psychological research, in-depth business case studies, examples from real leaders, and practical tools with her own narrative of endurance training. The result is a revolutionary new mindset for enduring success.

Alison Eyring, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Organisation Solutions. She has worked closely with senior executives in companies such as American Express, De Beers, Four Seasons, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Prudential, and Shell over the past twenty-five years.

Contents
Foreword by Marshall Goldsmith ix
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
Part 1: The Principles of Intelligent Restraint
Chapter 1: When Restraint Is Intelligent 17
Chapter 2: Principle One: Capacity Determines How Far 
and Fast You Can Go 31
Chapter 3: Principle Two: The Right Capabilities
 Increase Capacity 47
Chapter 4: Principle Three: The Right Pace Wins the Race 61
Part 2: The Rules of Intelligent Restraint
Chapter 5: Rule #1: Focus Overrules Vision 77
Chapter 6: Rule #2: Routines Beat Strengths 93
Chapter 7: Rule #3: Exert, Then Recover 109
Part 3: Put Intelligent Restraint to Work
Chapter 8: Scale to Grow 125
Chapter 9: Lead with Intelligent Restraint 141
Epilogue 157
Appendix: PACER for Self-Renewal 159
Notes 161
Acknowledgments 167
Index 169
About Alison 177
Working with Organisation Solutions 179