I recently sat down with a Leadership Team during one of our EOS Worldwide sessions as we worked through their 10-Year Target. The 10-Year Target is question 3 on the V/TO (the Vision/Traction Organizer). In total there are 8 questions and together, they form what I call a non-binding contract between these members.
When every single member of the team has clarity and alignment around every single word of the V/TO with “care and consideration”, that is what we call “the greater good” for the company.
In this case, the company spoke about their 10-Year Target as 10X’ing themselves. Dan Sullivan wrote a book called 10x is better than 2x. I love it. It’s a very clear and singular goal.
Here’s the thing though. If you want to achieve 10x growth; if you want to be a 10x company, then you have to actlike a 10x company – and that begins on the leadership team.
That begins with leadership.
It got me to thinking. What is a 10x leader?
So conveniently, here are ten (10) thoughts on what (and what does not) constitutes a 10x leader.
- A 10x leader is open and honest: This is a hallmark of our EOS session room and EOS culture. Open and honest. Open to possibilities. Open to a better path. Open minded. Open to the universe. Honest with themselves. Honest with their peers. Open and honest is all about truth telling and transparency. Direct communication.
- A 10x leader is not a master of ceremonies. They’re not a cheer-leader. Their job is not to facilitate, nor steer the conversation. Their job is to build a team of active participants. If people are quiet. If they sulk. If they do not contribute. If they get butt hurt. If they take things personally. If they are spectators, they don’t belong on the team. Nature abhors a vacuum. Give them the opening, but if they don’t take it, then it’s on them.
- A 10x leader is optimistic. I’ve been “meditating” on this for a while now. I think this is an essential quality. No how matter how empty the glass, you always have complete belief that one day it will be full again…and even overflowing. This is not toxic positivity. It’s a combination of blind faith, trusting the process and belief in the very team you’ve built around you. Note: built. This is deliberate. Intentional.
- A 10x leader is decisive. Procrastination. Caution. Kicking the can down the road. Circling the drain. Ain’t nobody got time for that. E.L.M.O. Enough, Let’s Move On. The key is to make sure everyone contributes and feels heard and then it’s time to make a decision. And it doesn’t have to be decision by consensus. In fact, when a team trusts their leader, they don’t need to be on the winning side of the vote.
- A 10x leader is courageous. You may not agree with my decision. You may not like it. You may not even understand it, but hopefully you’ll respect it…because you respect me. Unpopular decisions are part of the package deal of leadership. That’s what you signed up for. Leadership by definition means there’s no one in front of you. No one is leading you. It’s all you. You have to stick your neck out. You have to take risks. You have to boldly go where no one has gone before, otherwise guess what, you’re not a leader are you?
- A 10x leader is accountable. Yup, that means at some point the buck stops with you. On the EOS accountability chart, we explain that multiple people may be responsible, but only one person is accountable for an outcome. Being super clear about ownership of outcomes or accountabilities is key. A 10x leader steps up. They do not shy away. Visionaries are accountable for outlining a desired future state. Integrators are accountable to create a path and plan to help them get there. Yogi Berra once said, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.”
- A 10x leader is focused. Keeping your eye on the prize is key. The opposite of Traction is Distraction. If everything is important, nothing is important. Back to the V/TO and EOS, Core Focus is the combination of your Why (Passion/Cause/Purpose) and your What (Niche). It gives you permission to say no and according to Warren Buffet, “successful people say no to virtually everything.” Resist the urge to burn your energy around the edges. Say yes to the right things and no to the wrong things. Jim Collins says that companies will sooner go out of business out of indigestion versus starvation. Nuff said.
- A 10x leader is compartmentalized. This is a tough one, but here’s what I mean. In our Leadership training we say, “be their boss, not their friend.” This is in relation to your direct reports. I wonder whether the same should be the case on the leadership team itself. I don’t know if I’m “old skool,” but it’s important to know one’s place. It’s important to maintain a degree of distance and deference. Respect is earned to be sure, but it also comes with the job. When I started my coaching journey, I treated a leadership team as a team of equals, but that’s not the case, is it? Some are more “equal” than others. A 10x leader creates the agreements for a safe space without sanitizing it in the process.
- A 10x leader is hungry for more. Always learning. Always growing. Never satisfied. Never standing still. This dovetails nicely with open and honest. They’re students of the game and never satisfied when it comes to perfecting their craft. Leadership. Here’s the key: if you are truly a 10x leader, you have to LOVE and be GREAT at this. In other words, as Dan Sullivan would call it, this has to be your unique ability. And of course, if it’s not, then perhaps you’re not cut out to be a 10x leader. Or even a 1x leader That’s ok, OR you make it your life’s work, to strive towards this.
- Which brings me to the final point. A 10x leader doesn’t go it alone. It’s tough at the top, but it’s even worse at the bottom as the saying goes. Seriously, this is what you signed up for, right? It’s lonely in leadership, but that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. You have your team, but you can’t rely on them as a crutch (see the Ringelmann effect.) This is where a coach comes in. Hiring a coach that will push, challenge and work you hard to become the best version of yourself. And it will be tough. And it will hurt. And it will suck. And it will work. There’s a beauty in the humility of saying, “I can’t do this alone.” Submission of sorts. I’m not perfect. We’re not perfect. We may never be perfect, but we will also never stop trying to be better.
I begin every client journey asking my teams, “are you willing to become your best?” These are not just words. This is a solemn vow. A commitment to the process. A commitment to oneself. A commitment to the team. A commitment to become a 10x leader.
If you’d like more….like these top 10 takeaways and the very cool visual summary, or you’re an entrepreneur and you want to deepen the conversation you have a few options: