Optimize Your Network “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” ~Isaac Newton When the Walt Disney Company added Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to its board in 2009 she joined executives, some who had retired, from Seagram, Estee Lauder, Twitter, and U.S. Hispanic Media, among others.  Together, they bring valuable perspective from relevant brands and industries to advise Disney on its strategy and opportunities for success. Sure, Disney’s a media powerhouse with the clout to assemble top names for its board. But why shouldn’t entrepreneurs benefit from the wisdom of a wisely assembled group of peers who can share their experiences from the perspective of a similar company size and leadership role? More so, how handicapped is the small business leader who does not have a peer advisory network? Disney and other public companies have Boards of Directors (BoD) to hold them accountable to

The Triangle of Trusted Advisors: How Multiple Components Together Prevent You From Steaming Towards Disaster Stormy Waters Once, when I was running Wave Dispersion Systems, a company whose primary product was a maritime fence designed to stop a Water Borne Improvised Explosive Device (WBIED), a bankrupt client refused to pay a large invoice. At the time, we were flooded with business, scaling up quickly, and we hadn’t yet dealt with a default. We wanted payment as well as controls to prevent a similar situation in the future. Fortunately, I was a member of the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO), a global peer-to-peer network of non-competitive business owners from a range of non-competitive industries and backgrounds.  EO’s philosophy centers around confidential peer-to-peer sharing based on individual experience, known as “gestalt protocol” and not on “advice.” The magic lies in the realization that there is often another member who has expertise or experience around

No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy. ―‌ ‌‌Helmuth von Moltke the Elder If you run your business on the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®), you’re being hit by the economic sledgehammer of the Coronavirus just like everyone else. Right now, my clients are all asking me how, as EOS Companies, they should respond to what’s happening. The EOS tools, like anything that works, must adapt to the facts on the ground. Embrace and adapt the EOS tools to help you navigate the current challenges and you’ll create a stronger team and a more resilient business. Here are three tools and how your team may want to adapt them for the near term: Meeting Pulse™ ― Everything should become more frequent. Your quarterlies become weekly. Your weekly Level 10 Meetings™ become daily war room huddles. Your goal is to be ahead of the competition. Those who take a “wait

What is a Flywheel? A Flywheel is a set of business drivers that propel your business forward. In the form of a wheel, these components slowly build momentum as each of them is optimized and the wheel begins to turn. “Each turn of the flywheel builds upon work done earlier, compounding your investment of effort” Jim Collins. The Flywheel effect comes from Jim Collins’ book “Good to Great”. Collins describes the good-to-great transition process; “…the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant, heavy flywheel, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond”. Collins explores the Flywheel further in his monograph “Turning the Flywheel” where he shares stories of Flywheel applications and seven steps to creating your continued momentum. The Power of a Flywheel We work with our clients to create unique Flywheels to clarify the economic engine for their business. In other words, the Flywheel’s cycle is