Your managers are tired. Gallup’s newest numbers show it.
In Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026 report, manager engagement fell to 22% in 2025. It was 31% in 2022. The biggest drop came in a single year, from 27% to 22%.
Overall employee engagement fell to 20%. Gallup links most of that decline to managers.
Most bosses got the job because they were great at the work. Few were ever taught how to lead people.
In the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®), being a great boss comes down to two sets of habits. Gino Wickman and René Boer lay them out in How to Be a Great Boss. Leadership is about people. Management is about things: tasks, schedules, and expectations. EOS calls the combination LMA™: Leadership + Management = Accountability.
Here are the Five Leadership Practices™.
- Give clear direction
Your people should know where the company is going. They should know how their seat fits into that.
Share the vision at least every 90 days. Make sure each person can explain their role and their numbers.
Try this: Ask each direct report to name the company’s top three priorities this quarter. Compare the answers.
- Provide the necessary tools
Tools means training, technology, and people. Ask your team what they need to do the job well.
Then get it for them. If you cannot, tell them why.
Try this: Ask each person, “What’s one thing slowing you down every week?” Write the answers down. Report back in two weeks.
- Let go of the vine
Delegate the work. Then leave it delegated, even when it gets bumpy.
EOS uses Delegate and Elevate® to sort what you love and are great at from everything else. Hand off one thing at a time.
When someone brings you a problem, ask, “What do you think we should do?”
Try this: Pick one recurring task you still do. Hand it to the right person this week.
- Act with the greater good in mind
Make decisions that serve the whole company. Sometimes that costs your own department something.
Your team watches what you do when the choice is hard. That’s where trust gets built or lost.
Try this: Before your next big call, ask, “Would I make this choice if I ran the whole company?”
- Take Clarity Breaks™
Block time to step away and think. One hour a week, a notepad, no phone.
Use it to look at your people, your numbers, and your open issues. This is where you catch problems before your team feels them.
Try this: Put a recurring one-hour Clarity Break on your calendar today.
The other half: the Five Management Practices™
Leadership practices pair with five management practices:
- Keep expectations clear
- Communicate well
- Have the right meeting pulse, including a weekly Level 10 Meeting™
- Have Quarterly Conversations™
- Reward and recognize
Quarterly Conversations deserve a closer look. They are informal one-on-ones, often over coffee or lunch.
EOS uses a tool called the 5-5-5™ to structure them. You and your direct report talk through three things:
- Core Values: How is each of you living them?
- Roles: How well is each of you meeting the expectations of your seat?
- Rocks: Are you both on track for the quarter?
You both give feedback. You both leave with next steps. An annual review happens once a year. A Quarterly Conversation happens four times.
Here is a practical guide to running Quarterly Conversations from a fellow EOS Implementer.
Score yourself
Rate yourself yes or no on all ten practices. Then ask your direct reports to score you too.
EOS calls this the LMA questionnaire. The gaps between your score and theirs show you where to start.
Join the Great Boss™ Workshop in Charlotte
EOS Charlotte is running a full-day Great Boss™ Workshop.
- When: Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
- Where: CO-LAB at UNC Charlotte Center City, 301 E 9th St, Charlotte
You’ll work through the Five Leadership Practices™ and Five Management Practices™ with other bosses. You’ll practice Quarterly Conversations and leave with tools to use the next morning.
Register on Eventbrite
Not ready for a full day? Read a free chapter of How to Be a Great Boss.
Ty West is a Professional EOS Implementer serving Charlotte, Durham, and Myrtle Beach. Learn more or book a 90 Minute Meeting.