weekly basis to provide insight into how the organization is running and what the market is demanding? Does everyone in the organization have at least one key daily or weekly metric driving his or her performance?

the need for the executive team to grow as leaders in their abilities to delegate and predict; the need for systems and structures to handle the complexity that comes with growth; and the need to navigate the increasingly tricky market dynamics that mark arrival in a larger marketplace.

just resting on the laurels of a respected name and a commanding market share. If so, those days are long gone. Thanks to global competition, the rise of e-commerce and the ever-quickening pace of innovation, clear communication of an effective strategy is absolutely essential to survival.

experience a lot of miscommunications and balls getting dropped when there isn’t clear accountability established within an organization. All projects, line items on an income statement, priorities, and processes must ultimately be owned by a single person, even though there might be hundreds of people who have some kind of sub-accountabilities and

statement. If your core values seem to be sagging, or your purpose isn’t being fully realized, the action list affords you the opportunity to detail the specific actions the firm needs to take to bring things into better alignment. The BHAG is your Big Hairy Audacious Goal. As the name implies, it’s a 10- to 25-year, lofty goal, similar to

role of the functional leader is one of coaching and bringing best practices into the organization.

the model, it’s crucial that operations, sales, and accounting each has its own daily and weekly rhythms. In turn, it’s important that the executive team have some rhythm in terms of meeting with customers and employees. And if you are a public company, you have an entire new set of rhythms that revolve around the shareholder circle.

Obviously, a key to The Container Store’s success is that they have the Right People.

Executive summary: Having a few rules, repeating yourself a lot, and acting in ways that are consistent with the rules—these are the three keys whether you’re providing your children with a good moral foundation or providing a company with a strong cultural foundation. And the evidence is irrefutable that a strong culture leads to superior