Are you making Hits in your business or are you focused on Home Runs? Home Runs are more exciting and usually attributable to success, but Hits are the formula for longstanding success. Look at the careers of Hall of Fame inductees Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays.
Business Hits vs. Home Runs
Too many times, when I start a client engagement, owners and their leadership team are looking for ways to hit a home run and neglecting what needs to happen to make hits. They’re focused on getting the big client/project, or dominating their market without focusing on the discipline of taking the right steps to get there, ending in disappointment and unattained goals.
As the ancient saying goes, “You have to go slow in order to go fast.”
3 Disciplines for Business Hits
Here are 3 disciplines that will keep you focused on hits so you can make home runs and have longstanding success in your business.
Accountability Chart
For discipline to happen, regardless of what longterm vision is set, I always start my clients with the Accountability Chart. If you don’t know what is expected of you in terms of your function, roles & responsibilities, how can you be held accountable to things that are not defined? Start with defining the right structure for your organization... for the greater good of the company regardless of who owns certain seats in your company right now.
Once the right structure is defined (function, roles & responsibilities), only then can you start working towards having the “Right People in the Right Seats”. After all, how can you know you have the right person if the seat isn’t defined? When your Accountability Chart is clear, then the next two things (Rocks, Level 10 Meetings) will be aligned accordingly.
Rocks
Rocks are simply quarterly priorities. If you are not accomplishing your Rocks on a regular basis, you will never get to your vision or it will take a lot longer. You must align your Rocks towards your vision but if you don’t have the discipline to execute those Rocks, then you will continually spin your wheels... not moving towards your vision.
Rocks must be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, & Timely. Define a Rock in a way that you know what success or “done” looks like. How do you know you’ve achieved it?
Level 10 Meetings
Level 10 Meetings are regular meetings with your team. It follows a specific format that includes 3 main things: Reporting, Accountability, and Solving Issues.
- Reporting on what’s important in terms of numbers (Scorecard), priorities (Rocks), and people (customers and employees)
- Accountability for To Dos (actions to be done between meetings), ensuring that they are done.
- Solving Issues that are the highest priorities for that period. Issues can come from numbers and priorities that are off track, people issues, or anything else that’s keeping the team from success.
For more details on how a successful Level 10 Meeting is run, watch this video.
Hits = Hall of Fame
When you focus on these 3 disciplines, you and your team will create the Hits for your business that will result in Hall of Fame performance, creating the legacy you want. Ironically, there are 4 bases in baseball and we have 4 quarters in a year. If you’re constantly advancing through the bases (quarters for your company), you’re scoring runs (hitting annual goals for your company). Occasionally, you’ll hit a Home Run and those are exciting surprises for your company! But it starts with Hits and these 3 disciplines.
Next Steps:
- Unlock the EOS Toolbox to download a copy of the Level 10 Meeting™ Agenda
- Download a copy of the EOS V/TO™ to help you clarify, simplify, and achieve your vision
- Check the strength of your company with the Organizational Checkup®.
