Implementer Posts
The Cost of Waiting too Long: A Lesson from an EOS Implementer
In over five years as an EOS Implementer, I’ve seen first-hand how having the right people in the right seats can make or break a company. I’ve worked with many clients where the same issue is raised again and again as to the fit of a person in a seat. Often, the end result is a termination, and I can safely say that I’ve never heard a team say they wish they’d waited longer—instead, the common refrain is, “Why didn’t we let go of them sooner?” A leadership team’s reluctance to make the tough decision to let go of an underperforming employee can have unexpected and costly consequences. Here’s a story about one of my clients who waited too long to fire the wrong person, and the painful lesson they learned as a result. The Warning Signs My client, growing rapidly, had recently hired ‘Jake’ for a key role. Soon
Grinch Moments – I hope we all experience them!
As a leader, have you delegated a task and subsequently kept your team members from growing? Before you say, “Of course not!” please dig deeper with me. When a team member is not meeting our expectations of an assignment we’ve delegated to them, we may think, “It’s easier to do it myself and save them from this work that’s over their head!” And we might be right…this time. But what about next time? Are we creating the opening that allows our team members to grow by coaching them through it, or do we fool ourselves into believing we are helping them by excluding them from being part of the solution? It might be faster this one time, yet unless the long-term strategy is to be a team of one, I believe it’s selfish of us to think that doing their work ourselves and choosing not to delegate to and elevate
EOS Graduation
Congratulations to CEO Jeanne Rathbun and the leadership team at Criterion Automation for graduating (with honors!) from their EOS implementation journey! 2 years, 10 sessions, and one rockstar team. Here’s what Jeanne’s team had to say about their experience: – Amy makes stuff like this fun. – Things don’t fall through the cracks anymore. – I learned to step out of my comfort zone. – Our team cohesion is better because of open & honest communication. – Team meetings are more useful and efficient. – We started with self-implementing but discovered there were parts that we needed outside help with. That’s where Amy came in.
4 Secrets to Smoother EOS Meeting
Meetings aren’t anyone’s favorite part of the day. Sometimes they go long, or sometimes one person takes up all the air in the room. At the end of it, you might feel like you’ve wasted precious time without any problems being solved. But meetings don’t have to be that way. With the right structure, you can get more done in one 90-minute meeting than you ever thought possible. The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is designed to create a more efficient ecosystem for your business—including meetings. In this blog, I’ll divulge some of my best secrets for having smoother meetings. The EOS Meeting Weekly EOS meetings are called Level 10 meetings. This is because, at the end of every meeting, each team member rates the meeting from 1-10. The ideal is for these meetings to always be level 10. (That’s not always attainable—more on that later!) L10s always follow the same
The Vulnerable Rooster
A few days ago I made my morning walk up to the chickens with the dogs. As I approached the gate, I saw Sven, our rooster, standing with his back to the gate in what appeared to be a protective stance. Sven is 2 years old and to date hasn’t been aggressive with me or the other hens. My first thought was that perhaps that “switch” had flipped in his head and he was ready to fight. I opened the gate and asked him if he was planning on moving. As I did, I realized his spur was caught in the chicken netting and he was stuck. He tried to free himself, but he couldn’t. He was so nervous with me so close that he kept trying to get away, making the situation worse. I walked back to the house to get some snips and returned to the gate. I
‘Comfortable in the Uncomfortable’ Does Not Mean “Chill and Just Wait”
One of the many phrases that we use to help leaders be their best is to become “comfortable with being uncomfortable.” In fact, it’s emblazoned on a wall in my EOS® session room as a reminder. I affectionately call the space I designed and built for my clients “Amy’s EOS Flight Deck” because I’m doing all I can to create ‘lift’ for my clients. Do I try to be …the wind beneath their wings? Well, yes! Do I help leaders by allowing them to ignore the things they don’t like to do? In a word, no! So, what, then, do I mean when I ask them to get comfortable in the uncomfortable? In two sentences, I ask them: Leaders are often most bogged down by difficult conversations and tough decisions. The very thought of telling someone that they aren’t meeting expectations can cause great pause. (Pilots will recognize this as