Implementer Posts
It Takes A Mirror
Most companies and teams I meet with are missing something significant and are aware that there are gaps. There have been very few instances where I have a session and the team I am meeting with thinks that they are perfect. There have been zero sessions where a team actually is perfect. There is always room for improvement, evolution, and growth. I was meeting with a brand new client. He was a self-implementor of the EOS model, so he knew quite a bit about it already. He had a decent-sized company and quite a bit of ambition. What really struck me was how much he loved his leadership team. He originally brought me in just to meet his leadership team. The new client and the leadership team expressed that everything was going great. They were all in agreement with their values and goals. During this first session, the power of
Why Committed Teams Struggle to Achieve Results
In working with dozens of leadership teams around the country as a Certified EOS Implementer®, I see teams that absolutely crush it and also teams that chase their tails in circles trying to get somewhere. One of the most common situations I walk into, however, is the one you may presently be in. You know you have the right people and have a really hard-working and committed team that’s truly busting it, but you just can’t get anywhere. You’re putting in crazy hours and feel like you’re doing everything you can to progress. You question everything you’re doing and everyone you have, looking in every corner of your business trying to solve the mystery as to why you can’t take that next step and gain the traction you’re looking for. Many teams, like yours, over the past few years have been at this point when I first walk in the
Jeeps Are Like Your Business
Recently, a friend of mine turned me on to a Youtube series about Jeep enthusiasts and their adventures on iconic trails in the Southwest. I love the wilderness. It was right up my alley. Each episode starts with the caravan collecting at a beautiful location. They review their plan together and get started. There are great movement shots of the caravan driving by on the trail. Each Jeep is as different as its driver. As the colors roll by, you get a sense of the infinite options and decisions these owners must have made to get their rig just the way they wanted it. When the sun starts getting low in the sky, they arrive at the planned camping location. You get to watch as the community comes to life with everyone pitching in to help. Some are cooking. Others help with mechanical issues. A campfire gets built for everyone
How Culture Overcame Upheaval and Drove Growth
I recently completed an annual session with a leadership team composed of individuals I’ve known for many years, mainly through our mutual experience in building another great company. Because of our prior collaboration, I’ve been able to see their growth over an extensive time period, and that gave me a unique perspective for what I witnessed in this session, profound, transformational growth! At the start of the EOS journey, people issues are the single most common frustration that leaders express. This team was no different. Beyond their own challenges with each other, initially they were facing a constant battle to ensure they had sufficient, qualified staff across a large range of geography. Turnover was high, and their ability to grow revenue and profits was constrained by the staffing issues. In this session it was clear that those issues were in the past, and bigger, more interesting issues were now on
Break Through 2 – Resistance
To break through the ceiling, leadership must change how their business operates – which will meet resistance. Resistance to change is a natural human response that often stems from fear of the unknown, a lack of trust in leadership, and a lack of buy-in from employees. When faced with change, employees may worry about how it will impact their job security, workload, and comfort level, triggering their survival mode. To overcome resistance to change, leaders need to focus on building trust and communication with their employees. From his research done with ADP Research Institute, Marcus Buckingham found that workers are 12-times more likely to be fully engaged if they trust their leaders. One way leaders can build trust is by being transparent about the reasons for change, the benefits it will bring, and the impact it will have on the organization and its employees. Encouraging open and honest communication between
Turn On the Light!
I recently completed my 400th session as a professional EOS Implementer. After 3,600 hours spent doing deep work with entrepreneurial teams, I left my last session with a revelation. Only now do I really understand why EOS adopted a lightbulb surrounded by the Six Key Components as our logo. There’s no better metaphor than a lightbulb to describe the effect an EOS implementation has on the people in a private business. “Turning on the light” perfectly describes the journey our clients undertake to create clarity in their business. With clarity, they create the alignment, buy-in, accountability and Traction to achieve their vision. Here’s how the EOS Model and EOS Tools systematically create clarity: Vision: Clarity from forging team alignment on exactly where we’re going and how we’ll get there. The Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) becomes the roadmap. Sharing the Vision allows everyone to understand how the work they work do contributes to reaching the Vision. This “lightbulb” shines a