Leading a fast growth business is uncannily like mountaineering. Don’t look down or you’ll get dizzy with your success and how far you’ve got. Then you’ll fall off. Just look up and keep going until you get to the top, says Chris Ingram.

And momentum management can take you to the summit. In my column last month, I talked about its importance – and why every fast-growing business needs to follow it. Let’s take another point crucial to momentum management – keeping your options open.

Changing direction
Most successful entrepreneurs are highly resourceful and can turn on a sixpence, but I mean something more than that. However much you may want something and are determined to achieve it (and that attitude is essential), there are times when you should have an alternative route up your sleeve.

You mustn’t mention this to your team though, otherwise it will serve as a distraction and send the message that you are not really committed and they will start to relax their efforts.

But right at the back of your mind (and only at the back of your mind), as the boss, you must think the unthinkable – what if we fail?

In momentum management it’s crucial to have the ability to change direction at lightning speed, ideally without anyone predicting it and still continue at 100mph, but in a totally different direction.

It’s even better if you are just as enthusiastic about the new route as the old one, because you can then sell it just as convincingly.

And selling, persuading, convincing and cajoling are essential parts of momentum management.

Opportunistic, strategic or both?
There is a contradiction that most people wrestle with in business – can you be both opportunistic and strategic?

Yes, you can and don’t let anyone dissuade you!

It’s an awesome combination; a double whammy. The trick is to be opportunistic within your strategy. This is when you can make huge strides and leapfrog your competitors.

It’s amazing how many people don’t get this. It’s as if you mustn’t mix them. I have often found fellow executives looking at me with a look that seems to say, “But you are threatening the sanctity of our carefully thought-through strategy!” It’s as if strategy is for the MBAs and opportunism is for the cowboys. Rubbish!

Owning up
What happens if you make a mistake? I’ve found that if you are open and honest about your mistakes, the rest of the company tends to mirror that behaviour. When you realise this is not such a terrible admission, others will support you with the problem (sorry, I know we should call it a ‘challenge’!).

But the most immediate benefit is that no-one feels the need to shift the blame onto someone else – which is not only unpleasant, but also hugely divisive. There is no time for politics in momentum management. Then you can get on with sorting the issue out before it gets really dangerous.

So what do you think?
People are amazed when a senior person admits they don’t know something. It is very disarming and all it requires is a bit of basic honesty (and, of course, a lot of inner self-confidence).

Even better, if you say, “I don’t know, what do you think?” it has an extraordinary effect. And since you can’t know everything, what is the harm in admitting it? And you should do this at all levels in the company.

Admitting to a lack of knowledge is not a clever technique, it’s just being natural. I find you have a good chance of learning something as a result and those people who you have shared this with feel more valued.