It is always a challenge to keep individuals and organizations focused, but that’s what great leaders do. Distractions abound, but great leaders have an internal compass that keeps them from drifting off course. Two things set your bearings – your why and your what. For companies implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System^®, those two things combine to form your Core Focus™. Once you define your Core Focus, you’ll be less likely to be distracted by “shiny stuff.”

In 2010, Gino Wickman shared some of the great lessons and observations he had gleaned from implementing EOS^® with hundreds of entrepreneurial leadership teams. In reflecting on my years as Gino’s business partner and Integrator of EOS Worldwide and my own experiences working with leadership teams, it felt appropriate and timely to confirm and restate those same great lessons.

Creating the Accountability Chart with the help of an EOS^® Implementer helps leadership teams identify who is accountable for what, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the right people are in the right seats. Before you move people into new roles or start hiring new members of the team, you need to start by evaluating whether people GWC the seat – Get it, Want it and have the Capacity to do it.

Hiring is often cited as one of the most challenging parts of growing a business. When it comes to building your business dream team, right people-right seat decisions are rarely black and white. 

For example: when a new position is created, it’s quite common to have a "right person" on your existing team. This person shares your core values and really wants the opportunity, but falls short on getting it or having the capacity to deliver what the position requires. The question becomes: should you invest time and resources to develop that person or fill the position with someone outside your team? 

Isn’t the answer obvious?

One of your many challenges as a manager is determining who on your team has the capacity to be effective in their current role or an open position they want to take.

In Traction, capacity is the last measurable in the GWC equation and is defined this way: “Capacity means having the time as well as the mental, physical, and emotional capacity to do a job well.”