The recent issue of “Leader to Leader” (subscription required) has an article on ?Leading the Way to Double-Digit Growth” by Robert P. Gandossy and Shelli Greenslade.

The single biggest differentiator based on extensive research of double digit growth companies is Leadership Development. According to the authors, “Without a strong leadership infrastructure, organizations simply would not possess the ability to sustain long-term double digit growth.?

Some findings include:

More than half of the fast-growing companies studied cited corporate culture as a factor that enables them to develop leader quality and bench strength. Approximately 20 percent named it as the key enabler.

On the contrary, among single digit growth companies, culture was viewed as a barrier to developing leaders by more than a third of the companies, with 15 percent ranking it as the number one barrier.

Among survey questions that studied ?Employee Attitudes at Double-digit growth companies as compared to other companies?:

Pretty significant.

So as a leader, if you wish to grow in double digits, ?focus on combining culture, strategy, performance management, development, and senior leadership support in a way that enables your people to consistently deliver strong financial returns.?

There was a similar study byWatson Wyatt in 2001 that focused on HR Practices. It identified the following HR Practices to increase shareholder value by as much as 47%.