Over the last 10 years, I’ve helped more than one hundred leadership teams implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System® in their companies. These entrepreneurs and teams all came to me for one simple reason – they weren’t getting what they wanted from their businesses. In our journey to clarify, simplify, and achieve a company’s Vision, I’ve found that 80 percent of the time, one or more people change on the leadership team within the first two years. This means that if you’re feeling a little (or a lot) frustrated about your business and you want to make it great – the makeup of your leadership team may be one of the key reasons you’ve “hit the ceiling.” In fact, four times out of five – if you want to achieve your Vision – the makeup of your current leadership team isn’t the one you’ll end up with. Be Prepared for Change Half of

Several of my clients recently asked for help in putting together company or departmental scorecards. For many organizations and leaders, finding the right set of 5 to 15 leading indicators that provide an absolute pulse on the business (or the department) is a difficult challenge. Often it takes several months or longer to truly fall in love with your scorecard. Like most worthwhile journeys, strengthening the Data Component™ starts with a single step. I’d like to challenge you to take that step today by dividing a blank legal pad page into two columns. At the top of one column, write the title “Great Week.” At the top of the other column, write “Lousy Week.” Four Steps to Creating a Great Scorecard Define a Great Week for Your Company. Make a list of everything that might happen in a great week for your company (or your department). Maybe you got a bunch of new leads,

All companies running on EOS® follow the practice of having a weekly Level 10 Meeting™. I’ve seen many companies do these meetings, and one huge mistake keeps rearing its ugly head when clients get to the Customer and Employee Headlines, and again when they get to the Issues List. They launch right in and wind up missing the real stuff. Two Places to Insert a Powerful Pause Before Customer and Employee Headlines – Take a short pause before you move ahead with the Customer and Employee Headlines section of the Level 10 Meeting. Let everyone’s brains catch up with the meeting on a subconscious level. Simply start that part of the Level 10 Meeting by saying, “Okay, everyone, take just 30 quiet seconds to think about any customer and employee headlines you’d like to share.” Pause and wait for them to think, and then go around the room to gather the headlines. Before

If you haven’t read my previous blogs about Visionaries and Integrators, please take a moment to read them first to get essential context for this article: Visionaries and Integrators – Part 1: Why Both are Essential Visionaries and Integrators – Part 2: What is a Visionary? When you have created your Accountability Chart, you will clearly see the need for an Integrator. This is the major function that all major functions report to, and every organization must have one. In some companies, this person is known as the President, COO, General Manager, or Chief of Staff – the title doesn’t matter, but the role is essential. What is an Integrator? An Integrator is the person who is the tie-breaker for the Leadership Team, is the glue for the organization, holds everything together, beats the drum (provides cadence), is accountable for the P&L results, executes the business plan, holds the Leadership Team

Visionaries and Integrators – Part 2: What is a Visionary? One of the most powerful EOS® tools is the Accountability Chart. It’s powerful because it crystallizes the right structure and illustrates all available seats in your organization. In addition, it clarifies who reports to who and who is accountable for what. All that said, it also illuminates the Visionary and Integrator roles sitting atop the major functions of your business. An organization has a Visionary about 50 percent of the time, and it must have an Integrator 100 percent of the time. What is a Visionary? A Visionary is a person who has lots of ideas, is a strategic thinker, always sees the big picture, has a pulse on your industry, connects the dots, and researches and develops new products and services. The Visionary typically is the founding entrepreneur, operates more on emotion, and has ADD (but not always). This person is great

In an entrepreneurial company, the roles of Visionary and Integrator are an essential part of the organization, no matter how big or how small. The Visionary and the Integrator couldn’t be more different in terms of how they think and problem-solve. However, when their individual Unique Ability® is correctly matched together and they are working toward the same business goals, the results can be exciting. The Visionary entrepreneur’s passion, drive, and creativity are the key elements that help launch a business and fuel a company’s growth. But when a company is growing, the Visionary entrepreneur can start to feel swamped with the overwhelming workload, and their momentum begins to stall and sputter. Every great Visionary hits this threshold. The Visionary needs someone who is detail-oriented, who knows how to keep the team harmonious and productive, who is great at resolving conflict, and who can execute detailed plans for maximum results. Enter the