“Establish a Culture of Success”

Companies can grow fast. Unfortunately, employees don’t always keep up, says John M. Cook, CEO of The Profit Recovery Group, an Atlanta-based company that provides recovery audit services.

"You’re always wrestling with the fact that companies can grow that fast, people often can’t," says Cook. "One of the real challenges for every CEO is what happens to the guy who was fabulous in your company when you were at one level, adequate at another and grossly inadequate at where you are now."

To continue being successful, you often have to move employees into different slots. That can be hard for a CEO to do. If somebody is struggling today, the odds they’re going to become brilliant next week are slim.

Cook’s remedy: Establish a risk-taking type of corporate culture where shifting positions (or bringing someone in from the outside) is not viewed as a failure, it’s "given where we are right now, we have a different skill set that’s needed."