A cohesive and effective leadership team makes decisions for the greater good of the organization. Members of the team are selfless, willing to put their egos and personal agendas aside and ask themselves what is best for their company. Unfortunately, when faced with tough decisions the first inclination is to make decisions based on how the outcome will affect us personally or our department. The winner is often the person who is most persuasive but the loser is the company whose leadership team is constantly infighting to protect its turf.

With many new clients and new Implementers added to our Implementer team lately there have been a lot of new scorecards created out there which is what prompts this urgent message.

As I began to read this book, I was reminded of a book co-authored by Chip and Dan Heath in which they explain why a few ideas "stick" but most don't. It can also be said about business initiatives in that some have "traction" but most don't. That is Gino Wickman's core thesis. As he explains, most entrepreneurs experience one or (probably) more of five common frustrations: lack of control, underperforming workers, insufficient (if any) profits, limited growth potential, and dysfunctional operations. In a phrase, they can't "get a grip" on their business. What they need is what Wickman characterizes as a "holistic, self-sustaining system that addresses the six aspects of a business": Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction. What he offers is the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) that, if "mastered" (i.e. installed and then maintained properly), will enable business leaders to integrate the six components of their business "into a powerful framework that will help [them] gain traction and realize the vision [they've] always had for [their] company."

Most entrepreneurs are flying blind – running their businesses on vague sensations, feelings and emotions, rather than data. During a week in which a company wins a big order, gets some positive feedback from a key client, and finally finds the right person to fill a key seat – the company’s owner(s) feel as though they run the very best business in the world. The following week, when the company loses a big sale, gets negative feedback from a client and has to deal with a few people issues – the owner(s) feel as though they run the most troubled company out there.

Recently several of my clients asked for help 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.