The Non-Negotiable Rules

All businesses need to focus on six essential areas in order to prosper and grow. Without giving adequate attention to these areas, the business will inevitably suffer. These six foundational areas are:

• Business Development

• Business Model & Plan

• Finance

• Leadership

• Operations

• Workplace Community

Within each of these areas there are Non-Negotiable Rules, which are a powerful dimension within the Stages of Growth. They serve as graduation requirements to successfully move from one stage to the next. If the rules are ignored, the business won’t be able to move to the next stage because all its time and energy will go into troubleshooting. In order to grow, a business must be healthy – and that means following the rules.

Why are there six areas of Non-Negotiable Rules?

The rules are spread across these six areas because a business needs to be growing proportionally across them. Often, a business will exert energy in only some of these areas, causing an unbalanced ecosystem. Eventually, the rules that have been ignored create pockets of weakness that can cause the business to lose momentum or retreat.

By breaking the rules down into six separate areas, it’s possible for leaders to be concise and targeted in their approach. They can easily separate operational concerns, for example, from issues related to business development.

What are the Non-Negotiable Rules for my business’s Stage of Growth?

Take the following assessment to learn about the Non-Negotiable Rules for your business’s Stage of Growth. Known as the Stage Cards, these useful tools also break down other valuable information that you can apply to your business, including Gates of Focus, the ideal Leadership Style Blend, and Classic Challenges applicable to your stage.