Implementer Posts
70% of the Success of EOS Relies on a Healthy Team
I often get asked, “What is the #1 most important factor that leads to a successful EOS® engagement?” The lead domino for a successful implementation is a healthy team above all others. I can go so far as to estimate that a team’s success or lack of traction can be 70% attributable to team health. Healthy teams are functional, cohesive and are willing to ask the tough questions and deal with the most challenging issues. In Order to Get Healthy, You Have to Enter the Danger One of my clients calls me the “truth teller.” I believe my duty as an EOS Implementer is to ask the difficult questions. I want to be known as the “trusted partner” who has the courage to address the “sacred cows.” Playing this role is not always easy or fun. As a Traction Coach (EOS Implementer) I am sometimes uncertain and a bit anxious before “entering the danger.”
EOS Core Process: Documented and Followed by All
We did a “deep dive” on the EOS Core Process documentation and implementation process at our most recent Quarterly Collaborative Exchange (QCE). It was a great opportunity to hone my EOS Implementation skills on the path to EOS Mastery. Mike Paton, one of a few EOS Masters in the group, shared a great process for helping clients get their core processes documented and followed by all. It was no surprise to me that his process is a simple tool to produce real simple results. The process is as follows: Simplify – Distill your core process down to its component pieces. Write it Down – Take an initial stab at getting it documented. Agree – Be relentless about simplifying it and ensure that all of the stakeholders agree and align. Train – Teach your company the process to ensure it is followed by all. Measure – Trust your team to follow
The Power of Prediction in a Thunderstorm
Prediction: The Five Leadership Abilities™ Prediction, you and your team’s ability to predict, is one of The Five Leadership Abilities. To master the discipline of prediction is to overcome the feeling of being stuck, overwhelmed, and frustrated. Your ability to predict will help you avoid “hitting the ceiling” and break through it. When we describe prediction, we refer to both long and short term. Long-term prediction is your ability to plan 90 days and beyond. On the other hand, short-term prediction depends on your ability to compartmentalize™ and prioritize all of your daily and weekly issues. If you do not predict, you and your team will end up directionless. Issues will pile up and remain unresolved. To fail to predict is to set yourself up for disaster. A Personal Story I will share a personal story that invokes prediction in its purest form: I have flown millions of airline miles,
Do You Use Your Product to Run Your Business?
I remember early in my sales career, a prospect turning the tables on me and asking me if I used the product I was selling in my own business. I was a bit taken a back and a bit embarrassed to admit that I did not use our “brilliant selling tool” in my own efforts. Needless to say I did not make the sale. From that day forward, I committed to becoming a fully engaged user of the products that I sell. The Power of Applied Learning When I chose to become an EOS Implementer, I already had experience with the system. In fact, I had used the system to build one of the fastest growing privately held businesses in the United States and was listed on the Inc 500. I was even referenced in EOS’s seminal book “Traction:” Alongside two other partners, brothers Tyler and Jonathan B. Smith founded a small technology
8 Steps to Capture Better Customer Testimonials
Boosting One Small, Powerful Part of Your L10 Meetings: Get Customer Testimonials The fourth agenda item on the EOS Level 10 Meeting Agenda is called Customer / Employee Headlines (C/EH). The C/EH provides an opportunity for the team pause to share both good and bad news about customers and employees. It tends to be a time to celebrate the good stuff and occasionally do some after action review of something gone awry. Rich in Customer Testimonials The Customer / Employee Headlines agenda item is rich in customer testimonial opportunities. As such, I encourage my clients to be vigilant about listening for testimonial “gold.” I encourage them to create “To Do’s” to fully capture and promote the positive customer experience mentioned during C/EH. Customer Testimonial Capture and Promotion Process The process for capturing the testimonials and promoting them is quite simple and straightforward. To Do – Assign a to do to
Getting Rid of Hot Potatoes
When I was about 12 my Grandfather assigned me to plant a field of potatoes. He took me out to the field ( I remember it as about 10 acres but in reality it was a small plot beside the barn) and showed me how to cut potatoes leaving a good ”eye” (the stem bud from which the roots of the plant will sprout) and then planting the cut potato with the “eye” up and covering it with a few inches of soil. After a few days work I finished planting the field and, in a few weeks, a whole field of potato plants was flourishing. In business, some days it can feel as though you are facing a whole field of problems; major obstacles and barriers that are preventing you from realizing your vision. Just like the potato field, all these problems started with a root cause, and unfortunately, the roots