Traction Read online

  Great leaders have a habit of taking quiet thinking time. That means escaping the office on a regular basis for an hour or so. By working on yourself and the business, you will rise above feeling frustrated and overwhelmed to a clearheaded and confident state. As a result, when you come back into the business, you will be laser-focused and in the right leadership frame of mind.

  You can do this wherever works best for you; it should never be in your office. You have to go to a place where your thoughts are uninterrupted. You can do this daily, weekly, or monthly, whichever works best for you. Some clients have a favorite place in the morning on the way to work. Sam Cupp would do it 30 minutes in his den every morning. I do it once a week for two hours in a coffee shop. I knew a man that would take about half a day every month at the library, and that did the trick for him.

  Such free time to think is vital. As Henry Ford said, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” Take the opportunity to review your V/TO, review your plans, read, think strategically, look at The EOS Model, or fill out the Organizational Checkup. What I recommend for someone that doesn’t know what to do is to sit with a blank legal pad and a pen. I promise you, through this simple exercise, all of the right thoughts will come to mind. It’s important that none of the work you’re doing is busy work. This is not an opportunity for playing catch-up.

  After taking a clarity break, you will come back into the business clear, focused, and confident. You’ll be ready for anything. You’ll solve problems better, you’ll be clearer with your people, and you’ll set a better example. When you’re having trouble solving a problem, check out for a clarity break. Take a deep breath, and put the necessary time into thinking clearly through the problem.

  To start, pick a one-hour block of time next week, block it out, and do it. If you wait around for the right time to appear, it never will. It must be an appointment that you schedule with yourself. Give it a try. Just do one. I have yet to have one person tell me that it was a waste of time. You might be wondering where you’re going to find an hour. The amazing paradox is that the hour you spend will save you more than that hour later due to the clarity that it creates. You end up being much more efficient and effective.

  SHINY STUFF

  When the business is really humming and on track, you may get a little fidgety and start to get distracted by shiny stuff. This mostly happens to visionaries. Here are two discipline strategies to keep you focused and engaged.

  First, find a challenge inside the business. Focus on your “acres of diamonds.” Put your energy into something that is going to perpetuate the existing vision. Dive into cultural projects that will boost the core values and the people. Experiment with some new products or services in line with the company’s core focus. Go interview your top clients and really dig into what is working and what is not working for them. Take employees to lunch and ask them the same kind of questions. Test current products and services, and make sure they are still relevant. All of these activities will keep you stimulated and further the vision of the company.

  Second, if you’re starting to become distracted by shiny stuff that is outside your core focus and your leadership is supportive, then go explore. You must, however, protect your existing business, making sure the integrator is comfortable with your reduced time commitment. You cannot drain any necessary resources or energy that the current company needs to achieve its vision. If your new business idea is a good one, and it doesn’t fit in the current core focus, consider starting a new company with its own resources. Too many times, a new idea is incorporated into the current company, and it’s the kiss of death, due to stretched resources such as people, cash, and time. Even when both are great business ideas, they are destined to fail when they do not have the resources they need.

  StarTrax¸ a social event company that provides entertainment for parties and events, is a good example. Along the way, they stumbled into corporate event planning, which demands a different clientele, culture, and model. Nonetheless, they decided to pursue it. After flat growth and struggling to run two businesses in one over a three-year period, they realized it was time to separate the two. The dual-headed company was creating too much complexity and draining its resources. They found an integrator to run the social business, made him a partner, and then separated it. They suddenly had two very focused businesses with an integrator at the helm of each one. StarTrax is now running well and growing. The second company has been renamed pulse220 and has grown 40 percent each of the last two years.

  If you’re getting distracted by shiny stuff, choose one discipline and stick with it.

  THE ROAD TO HANA

  Some time ago, a friend of mine and his wife visited a major Maui tourist attraction called The Road to Hana. It comprised a long and winding road that, over the course of hours, took them through breathtaking scenery, waterfalls, cliffs, mountains, and beaches. At the end, there was nothing but the small town of Hana, with one gas station. When they finally arrived, my friend’s wife was very upset. She said, “We drove all of this way for this?” She missed the point. The Road to Hana is about the journey, not the destination.

  Don’t make the same mistake with The EOS Process. The journey of building a great business is not about the destination at all. Of course, you want it to be highly profitable and generate wealth for yourself and others. Yet, along the way, you need to enjoy the lives that you’ll touch. You need to get excited about the value you’ll create for customers, enjoy the pure pleasure of playing the game of business, and be able to take pride in the self-perpetuating system you’ve built. Once you have created a business that doesn’t require you to crank every single gear—an entity all its own—you’ll have more freedom for yourself. The journey should be enjoyable. If you’re racing to get to the end of the journey, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

  By embracing this journey-focused approach, you’re going against the grain of what most believe is right. As a result, it’s hard to understand the truth. As Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD, states in his book Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment, “Society rewards results, not processes; arrivals, not journeys.” The irony is that if you’re able to fight society’s pull, you will then enjoy all of the journey’s rewards.

  My closing on all my correspondence is “Stay focused.” If every person could just do that, they would be happier and more successful. We live in a world that inundates us with information. There is so much shiny stuff that it’s hard to concentrate. If I could leave you with one message, it’s that: Stay focused. As for what to focus on, that’s your decision. It all starts with answering the eight questions.

  Chapter 10

  Getting

  STARTED

  At this point, you’re probably eager to put these tools to work in your organization. To help you get the fastest results in the shortest amount of time, I’ll outline the exact process that I use to implement each EOS tool with our clients. Ultimately, these will strengthen the Six Key Components.

  The objective of this book is to teach the Six Key Components and the tools that will strengthen each of them. It’s written in a specific order using The EOS Model, basically top to bottom and right to left, in an attempt to keep the learning and understanding as linear as possible. While this is the best way to write this book and create understanding, the most effective order of implementation of each tool is different.

  The objective of this chapter is to provide the exact steps in order. Following this process has proven to be the most efficient way to get the fastest results. Keep in mind that you can implement them in any order you choose, but I highly recommend you go straight down the list.

  You might want to first check the overview of The EOS Process on page 63. After hands-on implementation with over 120 companies personally and an additional 300 with our team of implementers, I’ve learned the most effective way to proceed. I will first share the tool in the sequence and then the reason for
that order. I won’t get into the specific how-tos, as they’re already explained in the earlier chapters.

  You’ve learned a total of seven main tools in this book, with an additional 12 secondary supportive tools. Each stands on its own, but when they’re combined, you have a complete and holistic system for running your organization. As I’ve mentioned before, I suggest you implement each of the following tools only within your leadership team first. Make sure you and your leadership team have mastered them before rolling them out to the rest of your organization. Any chink in the armor of your leadership team will show up as a gaping rip to the rest of your people, so this step is vital. Once your team has fully embraced them, I’ll show you how to introduce them to the rest of your company.

  The seven main tools are listed in the order of recommended implementation, along with the 12 secondary tools that go with them:

  1. Accountability Chart (which includes People Analyzer and GWC)

  2. Rocks

  3. Meeting Pulse (which includes IDS, Level 10 Meeting, Quarterlies, and Annuals)

  4. Scorecard

  5. V/TO (which includes core values, core focus, 10-year target, marketing strategy, three-year picture, and one-year plan)

  6. Three-Step Process Documenter

  7. Everyone Has a Number

  ACCOUNTABILITY CHART (WHICH INCLUDES PEOPLE ANALYZER AND GWC)

  Begin by creating your Accountability Chart. The reason we start here with every client is that the chart goes to the root of most issues. First, you need to take a big step back and determine the right structure for your organization. Then you can put the right people in the right seats. Through this initial strategy, you will smoke out any people and accountability issues that are holding you back.

  When complete, you’ll have absolute clarity on who is accountable for what. If this tool is set in place before you apply the remaining tools, they’ll be much more potent and effective because you’ll have created a world of accountability. For instance, with a completed Accountability Chart in place, you’ll draw up your V/TO with your leadership team with a more complete, realistic vision and plan for your organization. Without an Accountability Chart, you won’t know who clearly owns what. In this environment, teams tend to shoot a little higher, and there’s less productive discussion and debate due to increased bravado and lack of true ownership.

  ROCKS

  Once your Accountability Chart is complete, you should move to the second tool: setting Rocks. Once you know who is accountable for what, you set better Rocks. You want your team to evolve toward setting and achieving great Rocks every 90 days. The other reason Rocks are the second tool to implement is that it focuses your team on the most important priorities quickly and gets you to work on accomplishing them.

  The reality is that the first time around, you will set mediocre Rocks and only achieve about 50 percent of them. This has been historically accurate for over 10 years with our clients. Within two or three quarters of setting and achieving Rocks, though, you and your team will become experts at Rock setting and achieving, accomplishing a minimum of 80 percent collectively each quarter.

  MEETING PULSE (WHICH INCLUDES IDS, LEVEL 10 MEETING, QUARTERLIES, AND ANNUALS)

  With your Accountability Chart in place and your leadership team laser-focused on their Rocks, the third tool to implement is the Meeting Pulse, specifically the 90-minute weekly Level 10 Meeting. This new habit is a bit uncomfortable at first. You’ll probably take four to eight weeks to really become comfortable with it. Still, the tool forces your team to single out what’s important every week and start solving the right problems.

  Implementing the weekly Level 10 Meeting relies on the proper use of one of the secondary tools, IDS. The Level 10 Meeting forces you to use this tool to identify, discuss, and solve all relevant issues. This will help you gain immediate traction.

  As for your quarterly and annual meeting pulse, you simply start those based on where you are in the calendar year.

  SCORECARD

  With momentum building, the fourth main tool to implement is the Scorecard. You need to develop your Scorecard into a powerful predictive tool, a process that takes one to three months. Soon you and your team will have an absolute pulse on your business. During this developmental process, you will create real accountability as you identify the right activity-based numbers to measure and clearly identify the person who ultimately owns the number. This will create instant results and ownership.

  V/TO (WHICH INCLUDES CORE VALUES, CORE FOCUS, 10-YEAR TARGET, MARKETING STRATEGY, THREE-YEAR PICTURE, AND ONE-YEAR PLAN)

  The first four main tools create a strong foundation of traction, accountability, and a platform from which to execute your vision. That leads to the fifth tool, the V/TO. One of the secrets to The EOS Process is that we always start with traction first and then vision. This means that we first build a strong foundation for execution with the first four main tools, then we build the vision. Frankly, the vision work is relatively simple when there is little or no discipline and accountability. Without a nuts-and-bolts foundation, devising a vision is easy. That’s why it’s so fun for many consultants who spend their time doing two-day strategic planning sessions.

  Doing the tough work of putting a strong foundation of accountability in place leads to much more intense and productive planning work. You can have great discussions of what the right plan is for the organization, because your people are now being measured and held fully accountable for the objectives of the company.

  Still, a question I’m often asked is, “How can you create an Accountability Chart and set Rocks before you know what your vision is?” The truth is, most organizations have a pretty good idea where they’re going already. After all, they’re not exactly starting from scratch.

  The real questions to ask are these: How are you going to get the best bang for your buck with these tools? Where will you get the most impact in the shortest period of time? What I’ve learned over the last decade with over 400 companies is that this approach is it.

  THE EOS FOUNDATIONAL TOOLS

  The Accountability Chart, Rocks, Meeting Pulse, Scorecard, and V/TO are known as the EOS foundational tools. Implementing them into your entire company produces 80 percent of the results. As you expand the use of these tools, it’s important to introduce them one tier at a time until each person in that tier understands and embraces them, just as we did with the leadership team.

  Every company moves at its own pace. Our fastest client, a 50-person organization, rolled out the foundational tools from top to bottom in six months. In contrast, our slowest client, a 70-person company, needed over three years. Neither is bad or good—you can only move as fast as you’re able to absorb the changes. A good rule of thumb is about a year. Also, a larger company will take longer than a smaller company. By the same token, a company with more tiers (layers) takes longer than a company with less. To date, our smallest client has three people and our largest has 1,700.

  One important note for companies with multiple locations: It’s vital that the manager at the off-site location fully embraces and understands each foundational tool before rolling them out to the next tier in his or her location. Many times, leadership team members need to be present at locations to help teach, guide, and show support for the tools. So, if you have multiple locations, it adds an inherent level of complexity to your organization. It’s just the reality of your business model. Accepting this reality is the first step to solving it. Plan on spending the necessary time at these locations until full implementation is achieved. This additional time can be achieved through physical visits, conference calls, and webinars. All have worked well with our clients, and every company is different in terms of which approach works best.

  THREE-STEP PROCESS DOCUMENTER

  When you have the foundational tools fully implemented in your entire company and everyone is clear and has bought into them, the next step is documenting and training your core processes using the sixth main tool
, the Three-Step Process Documenter. This is typically a six- to 12-month process, including documentation and fully training everyone.

  One additional note is that some clients do begin implementing this tool prior to full implementation of the foundational tools. A simple rule of thumb is that if you feel you’re on track with the implementation of the previous tools and your leadership team has the capacity, then go ahead and overachieve by getting a jump start on implementing this tool.

  EVERYONE HAS A NUMBER

  The seventh and final main tool is that everyone must have a number. With most of our clients, this is the last domino to fall. While a highly effective tool, without the first six main tools in place, it’s less effective due to a lack of follow-through that stems from a lack of accountability, discipline, and strong management. However, with a strong foundation in place, everyone having a number in your organization gives you increased results.

  ONGOING IMPLEMENTATION AND REINFORCEMENT

  Once the above seven main tools are implemented along with the additional 12 supportive tools, it’s important to know what ongoing implementation, reinforcement, and management look like, because getting your head around all the tools at once is a lot and can get overwhelming.

  Here’s a snapshot: Imagine all of the above-mentioned tools fully implemented. Every quarter, you’re in a full-day quarterly session with your leadership team, resolving all key issues, reviewing last quarter’s Rocks and setting next quarter’s Rocks, getting better and better at it every 90 days. Every year, you participate in a highly effective two-day annual planning session, challenging every aspect of your V/TO and putting a rock-solid plan in place for the coming year, with everyone on the same page.