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.

In the last quarterly session with a client, the team reported record financials in the last 90 days. They exceeded their revenue and profit targets, and they completed over 90 percent of their rocks. By all estimations, they had every reason to celebrate. But when it came time to grade the quarter, they gave it a C+ / B–. Surprised by the low grade, I asked them to explore this a bit. What they discovered has the potential to change their company for years.

One of the core EOS^® tools for helping a leader determine whether someone is in the right seat is GWC™, which stands for Get it, Want it, and Capacity. When evaluating whether someone GWC’s their job, you must ask three questions – Do they Get it? Do they Want it? Do they have the Capacity to do it? – and answer either "Yes" or "No" to each question. "Maybe" is not an option.

If any one of the three answers is "No,” then that person is in the wrong seat. It’s a very simple and powerful exercise, but when leaders begin to use this tool, they sometimes experience confusion between “Get it” and “Capacity.” Here’s the difference.

Recently I took a new company through the Accountability Chart exercise. The Accountability Chart is the tool that gives structure to a business, allowing each member to fill the role that fits his or her Unique Ability^®.

As we were going through the exercise the assumption was that the owner would go in the Integrator seat, bringing clarity and keeping the team focused on accomplishing the business plan.

As the discussion continued, everyone agreed that the owner was definitely a Visionary and belonged in the Visionary seat, and many thought he belonged in the Integrator seat as well. Then the sales leader spoke up and said, “I think Joe should go in the Integrator seat. He handles most of those roles and responsibilities now, and he’s the one that’s in every day, knows every department and how they tick.”

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.