Business Liberated
At Lockstep, we believe that business has the potential to be society’s most powerful shaping force and that for society to become a more whole, positive, beneficial version of itself, business needs to play an important part.
When a business is built right, it can be one of the most positive shapers of human beings: people can find the best versions of themselves, find purpose through the challenges that they face and set a high bar of excellence for their future. When humans are shaped positively by businesses, society benefits in turn.
Currently, Business is operating on a legacy model adopted over 125 years ago at the turn of the 20th century: Business extracts value from resources, to create more value and earn a profit.
This old-style of business functions on toil and effort with little joy and pedestrian performance. Business environments are pressured, leaders direct from one challenge or crisis to the next, people and teams work relentlessly. Businesses perform, at the expense of their people and (often) society – the community and the environment.
Lockstep believes in building a better kind of business. A new-style of business that is purpose-driven, high-functioning, fit for the times, and joyful to be a part of.
We call this a Transcendent Business.
What is a Transcendent Business?
Transcendent Businesses are more conscious, they embody purpose, exude optimism, create impact , and are beacons of what is possible. They perform at the highest levels while leaving the world better than they found it.
There isn’t a set blueprint for a Transcendent Business, this will be unique for every business that achieves it. Transcendent Businesses are better because they consciously strive to be, not for the sake of profit, but for the sake of creating value beyond profit.
In our experience Transcendent Businesses tend to have the following in common:
Transcendent Businesses share these qualities:
Threshold Transformation
A business that has faced a defining moment – crisis, disruption, existential risk – and instead of merely surviving, used it as a launchpad to evolve into something new.
Beacon Effect
A business that inspires imitation, admiration, or belief. They become symbols of what’s possible, showing others a path beyond old paradigms.
Integration of Opposites
A business that unites what appears to be a contradiction – profit with purpose, tradition with innovation, or individual empowerment with collective good.
Embodied Purpose
A business where purpose is lived in decisions, products, culture – not just words on a wall. It’s evident in how they treat employees, customers, and the planet.
Reordering the System
A business that makes not just internal change, but impact that alters the industry, community, or societal expectations around business.
How does a business become transcendent?
Some Transcendent Businesses are built that way from day one, by bold leaders with incredible vision, many choose to elevate their existence to reach it or correct their path.
Most Transcendent Businesses have faced a defining moment (threat or opportunity), and instead of surviving it, they used that moment as a launchpad to evolve into something new and better.
We call these defining moments, business transitions. If a business navigates their transition successfully, they transcend.
Why are Transcendent Businesses important?
Put simply, Transcendent Businesses shape better people and have a net positive effect on our society.
Their impact reorders the system: their sector, the community they’re a part of, and societal expectations of business.
Imagine a world with more Transcendent Businesses: where people derive joy from their work and are better humans as a result. Communities of better humans can leave the world a better place.
Business Transitions
Some businesses are happy with functioning as half-alive. But Transcendent Businesses are full of rhythm and vitality. When they face defining moments in their trajectory, they use these as an invitation to reimagine what is possible.
The Elevation
Evolving and raising the bar.
Evolving in sophistication and performance, to set your new bar.
Most often, ambitious business leaders identify the potential to elevate their business. Sometimes the market beckons a business to step up and fulfill an elevated role. Businesses that have elevated successfully become beacons of what is possible in their particular sector
If you have had some of the following thoughts recently, your business may be ripe for elevation:
- The current way that you operate or legacy systems are holding your business back
- Your culture and systems no longer match your ambition
- You want to pursue a higher standard - you know that the business is capable of more
- Market signals are telling you there is more potential for you to add value
How we help:
We will help you to set your vision and strategy for the elevated, transcendent form of your business. We work with you to align your culture, systems and leadership structures so that they are sufficient to elevate your business to transcendence.
The results:
An elevation, when executed successfully, produces the best possible version of your business and your people. For the business: a sharper mission, greater capability, higher profitability and market leadership. For your people: learning and growth opportunities, fulfilment and a sense of empowerment and ownership.
The Renewal
Revitalising to create value and longevity.
Revitalising your core, to create new value into the future.
A business typically needs to renew when performance has reached a plateau, the organisation needs to get back on track or modernise. Renewal is often required in a business’ lifetime or when legacy strategies no longer serve.
Your business may be a prime candidate for renewal if you are experiencing some of the following:
- Fatigue or weariness amongst your team and organisation
- The inputs and efforts which previously produced results aren’t delivering.
- Your business seems stuck in the same dull cycles
- Your business is fragmented or chaotic
How we help:
We guide you through the process of reimagining your business, and revitalising your strategy, products, culture and systems. We equip you with practical guidance and tools to develop a leadership team aligned to your renewed vision. Lockstep guides you along the path to renewal and transcendence, ensuring that every aspect of your business is primed for the next chapter: leadership, people and culture, systems and products.
The results:
Renewal breathes life back into a business so that it can continue to create value and profit into the future for business owners and its people. When orchestrated successfully a renewal ensures the longevity for future profitability of your business, opening up possibilities for future growth.
The Expansion
Growing bigger and better.
Ensuring that your rapid growth delivers sustainable success.
Growth and new opportunities are an invitation to expand a business’ capacity and profitability, however if the business loses its centre and slips into chaos in the process, value could be lost rather than created. Not many businesses can simply grow and expand beyond the systems that they were founded on without pressure rising.
When navigated successfully, with the guidance and expertise, an expansion creates new opportunities beyond measure for a business’ leaders and its people.
The current growth in your business should to be navigated as an expansion if:
- Demand or opportunity is outpacing your current capacity
- Growth is creating pressure on leadership and your people
- Systems aren’t coping and resources are stretched
- The core vision of your business being diluted under pressure
When businesses experiencing growth are too focused on coping with increased demand to develop the strategies and leadership that they need to really take advantage of the opportunity to expand, the trajectory stalls and the business can end up shedding profit and talent.
As a founder, you may lack the skills required to expand at the pace demanded. New business leaders can inherit business with legacy systems that aren’t fit for the next level. Sometimes leadership teams and people are already fatigued from the effort to get to the point of expansion and simply proceeding without their buy-in to a solid strategy, results in support falling flat.
How we help:
Lockstep guides businesses through every aspect of expansion: developing strategy, building leadership capacity, upgrading business systems for sustainable growth and transcendence.
The results:
A successful expansion ensures that a business emerges focused and stable with scalable processes and leadership.
The Pivot
From chaos to coherence.
Redirecting your energy, without losing what you have built.
Navigating a pivot successfully requires anticipating, planning for the impact that the change in strategy will have on business systems, leadership and people. A decisive, strategic plan will get your business on board, a chaotic change in direction could result in your business shedding the talent (and IP) that you need for your new direction.
You may need to reimagine your business’ future and pivot if:
- Your current model is losing traction or relevance
- You’re aware that your customers needs have changed and you are consistently trying to catch up
- New opportunities or needs are visible but out of reach
- Your normal efforts are producing diminishing returns
How we help:
We will guide you in reimagining your business, including a refreshed, clear purpose and help you to develop your new strategy and the updated systems to support it. We work with your leadership team to develop their skills and secure their buy in for the future-fit version.
The results:
When a pivot is navigated successfully, traction, momentum and profitability return and are sustainable. A business that redirects itself with courage toward the future is more resilient, clear in purpose, and contributes something that the market really needs.
The Merger
Unifying for exponential and sustainable value.
Ensuring that the sum of your potential produces exponential value.
If your business is on the path to a merger, our team can provide the guidance and support that you need to help you navigate this transition successfully and reach transcendence.
- Your current model is losing traction or relevance
- You’re aware that your customers needs have changed and you are consistently trying to catch up
- New opportunities or needs are visible but out of reach
- Your normal efforts are producing diminishing returns
How we help:
Lockstep will guide you to prepare intentionally and openly for integration, starting with the foundational work of surfacing and reconciling values and facilitating key discussions with leadership from both entities.
The results:
Mergers hold significant potential for reaching transcendence when navigated successfully. This requires building cohesion and trust, which requires exceptional skill at scale.
The Rationalisation
Sharpening focus and cutting complexity.
Refining your business, to build a stronger core.
A rationalisation is when a business strategically reduces complexity so that it can move forward with clarity and regain momentum. It involves removing what no longer serves, so clarity, focus, and confidence can return.
Sometimes confused with downscaling, a rationalisation aims to prune a business for its next season.
Your business may be ripe for rationalisation if:
- Operations feel cluttered with complexity and noise
- Effort is being spent on things that no longer create value
- The future feels blocked until difficult choices are made
How we help:
We will guide you in making decisive, evidence-based choices to align the organisation around what matters most. We develop a revised strategic plan, including the reorganisation of talent. In addition, we facilitate open communication, to preserve trust through the process.
The results:
Rationalisation results in more agility: faster decision making, sharper focus, and restored confidence. After a successful rationalisation, your business will have restored momentum, profitability and be ready for its next chapter.
The Elevation
Evolving and raising the bar
Evolving in sophistication and performance, to set your new bar.
Most often, ambitious business leaders identify the potential to elevate their business. Sometimes the market beckons a business to step up and fulfill an elevated role. Businesses that have elevated successfully become beacons of what is possible in their particular sector
If you have had some of the following thoughts recently, your business may be ripe for elevation:
- The current way that you operate or legacy systems are holding your business back
- Your culture and systems no longer match your ambition
- You want to pursue a higher standard - you know that the business is capable of more
- Market signals are telling you there is more potential for you to add value
How Lockstep can help:
We will help you to set your vision and strategy for the elevated, transcendent form of your business. We work with you to align your culture, systems and leadership structures so that they are sufficient to elevate your business to transcendence.
The Results:
An elevation, when executed successfully, produces the best possible version of your business and your people. For the business: a sharper mission, greater capability, higher profitability and market leadership. For your people: learning and growth opportunities, fulfilment and a sense of empowerment and ownership.
Transcendent Businesses that we have helped through elevations:
The Renewal
Revitalising to create value and longevity
Revitalising your core, to create new value into the future.
A business typically needs to renew when performance has reached a plateau, the organisation needs to get back on track or modernise. Renewal is often required in a business’ lifetime or when legacy strategies no longer serve.
Your business may be a prime candidate for renewal if you are experiencing some of the following:
- Fatigue or weariness amongst your team and organisation
- The inputs and efforts which previously produced results aren’t delivering.
- Your business seems stuck in the same dull cycles
- Your business is fragmented or chaotic
How Lockstep can help:
We guide you through the process of reimagining your business, and revitalising your strategy, products, culture and systems. We equip you with practical guidance and tools to develop a leadership team aligned to your renewed vision. Lockstep guides you along the path to renewal and transcendence, ensuring that every aspect of your business is primed for the next chapter: leadership, people and culture, systems and products.
The Results:
Renewal breathes life back into a business so that it can continue to create value and profit into the future for business owners and its people. When orchestrated successfully a renewal ensures the longevity for future profitability of your business, opening up possibilities for future growth.
Transcendent Businesses that we have helped through renewals
The Expansion
Growing bigger and better
Ensuring that your rapid growth delivers sustainable success.
Growth and new opportunities are an invitation to expand a business’ capacity and profitability, however if the business loses its centre and slips into chaos in the process, value could be lost rather than created. Not many businesses can simply grow and expand beyond the systems that they were founded on without pressure rising.
When navigated successfully, with the guidance and expertise, an expansion creates new opportunities beyond measure for a business’ leaders and its people.
The current growth in your business should to be navigated as an expansion if:
- Demand or opportunity is outpacing your current capacity
- Growth is creating pressure on leadership and your people
- Systems aren’t coping and resources are stretched
- The core vision of your business being diluted under pressure
When businesses experiencing growth are too focused on coping with increased demand to develop the strategies and leadership that they need to really take advantage of the opportunity to expand, the trajectory stalls and the business can end up shedding profit and talent.
As a founder, you may lack the skills required to expand at the pace demanded. New business leaders can inherit business with legacy systems that aren’t fit for the next level. Sometimes leadership teams and people are already fatigued from the effort to get to the point of expansion and simply proceeding without their buy-in to a solid strategy, results in support falling flat.
How Lockstep can help:
Lockstep guides businesses through every aspect of expansion: developing strategy, building leadership capacity, upgrading business systems for sustainable growth and transcendence.
The Results:
A successful expansion ensures that a business emerges focused and stable with scalable processes and leadership.
Transcendent Businesses that we have helped through expansions
The Pivot
From chaos to coherence
Redirecting your energy, without losing what you have built.
Navigating a pivot successfully requires anticipating, planning for the impact that the change in strategy will have on business systems, leadership and people. A decisive strategic plan will get your business on board, a chaotic change in direction could result in your business shedding the talent (and IP) that you need for your new direction.
You may need to reimagine your business’ future and pivot if:
- Your current model is losing traction or relevance
- You’re aware that your customers needs have changed and you are consistently trying to catch up
- New opportunities or needs are visible but out of reach
- Your normal efforts are producing diminishing returns
How Lockstep can help:
We will guide you in reimagining your business, including a new, clear purpose and help you to develop your new strategy and the updated systems to support it. We work with your leadership team to develop their skills and secure their buy in for the future-fit version.
The Results:
When a pivot is navigated successfully, traction, momentum and profitability return and are sustainable. A business that redirects itself with courage toward the future is more resilient, clear in purpose, and contributing something that the market really needs.
Transcendent Businesses that we have helped through pivots
The Merger
Unifying for exponential and sustainable value
Ensuring that the sum of your potential produces exponential value.
If your business is on the path to a merger, our team can provide the guidance and support that you need to help you navigate this transition successfully and reach transcendence.
- Your current model is losing traction or relevance
- You’re aware that your customers needs have changed and you are consistently trying to catch up
- New opportunities or needs are visible but out of reach
- Your normal efforts are producing diminishing returns
How Lockstep can help:
Lockstep will guide you to prepare intentionally and openly for integration, starting with the foundational work of surfacing and reconciling values and facilitating key discussions with leadership from both entities.
The Results:
Mergers hold significant potential for reaching transcendence when navigated successfully. This requires building cohesion and trust, which requires exceptional skill at scale.
The Rationalisation
Sharpening focus and cutting complexity.
Refining your business, to build a stronger core.
A rationalisation is when a business strategically reduces complexity so that it can move forward with clarity and regain momentum. It involves removing what no longer serves, so clarity, focus, and confidence can return.
Sometimes confused with “down scaling”, a rationalisation aims to prune a business for its next season.
Your business may be ripe for rationalisation if:
- Operations feel cluttered with complexity and noise
- Effort is being spent on things that no longer create value
- The future feels blocked until difficult choices are made
How Lockstep can help:
We will guide you in making decisive, evidence-based choices to align the organisation around what matters most. We develop a revised strategic plan, including the re-organisation of talent. In addition, we facilitate open communication, to preserve trust through the process.
The Results:
Rationalisation results in more agility: faster decisions, sharper focus, and restored confidence. After a successful rationalisation, your business will have restored momentum, profitability and be ready for its next chapter.