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Growth for the sake of growth is dead. I know that might sound harsh, but here's what I've noticed after years of working with businesses: just because you're growing doesn't mean you're actually living. You can grow rapidly on the outside while slowly dying inside.
These fundamental indicators tell us whether a business is healthy or just looking good on paper. These things separate businesses that last from those that eventually crumble, no matter how fast they grow.
Team Engagement
Here's a stat that should stop us in our tracks: 85% of employees either need to be more engaged or actively disengaged at work. Think about that. This isn't just about productivity - it's about human potential.
We were created for work. Not as some burden after the fall but as part of who we are. Even in Eden, humans were meant to cultivate and create. So when 85% of people are just going through the motions at work, we're looking at a massive disconnect from our fundamental purpose.
What does real engagement look like? It's when your people believe their work is:
- Necessary - they see how it fits into the bigger picture
- Valuable - they understand how it serves our customers
- Meaningful - they connect it to a larger purpose
Some turnover is actually healthy. It shows you're growing and changing. But if you've got a revolving door of people leaving? That's a red flag we need to pay attention to.
Profitability
Your top-line revenue numbers are nice but ultimately meaningless if you're not profitable. I can't tell you how often I've seen businesses celebrating 20% revenue growth while their expenses are climbing by 30%. That's not success - that's a problem in the making.
Think about it like this: Revenue can hide a lot of inefficiencies. It's like putting a fresh coat of paint on a house with foundation problems. It looks better, but you still need to address the real issue.
Consistency of Language
Do you know what's fascinating about healthy organizations? They develop their own language. Not in some artificial, corporate way, but organically. Their people use the same words and phrases to describe why they do what they do and how they do it.
I love what Nick Saban once said about his football program. Someone asked him how he maintains such high standards, and he said, "I don't hold them accountable to the standard. The team holds the team accountable to the standard." That only happens when everyone's speaking the same language about what matters.
Operational Excellence
Here's something I see too often: businesses with one year of experience twenty times instead of twenty years of experience. What's the difference? Systems. Not complicated, but clear, consistent ways of doing things that anyone can follow.
This isn't about perfection - it's about having a way to capture what works and make it repeatable. When you do that, quality doesn't depend on any one person being there. The system carries the load.
Health of the Leader
This might be controversial, but I'm convinced that disorganized, frantic, feeble, frenzied leaders don't lead healthy, organized, stable businesses. At least not sustainably.
Think about it like the oxygen mask on an airplane - you have to secure your own before helping others. As a leader, your health creates a ceiling for your organization's health. This is about more than physical health (though a daily walk wouldn't hurt). It's about:
- Spiritual health: Your relationship with God and your sense of purpose
- Physical health: Basic movement and nutrition
- Emotional health: Your internal "check engine light"
- Relational health: Your marriage, your kids, your core relationships
I'm not standing up here as someone who's mastered all this. I'm right there with you, working on these things every day. You don't need to be perfect in all these areas - none of us are. What matters is that you're paying attention, making progress, and staying aware.
One of these areas may have jumped out at you as you were reading. That's probably where you should start. Because when you build a foundation of real organizational health, it shows up not just in your metrics but in the lives of everyone your business touches.
