When I was a kid we’d started counting the moment we saw lightning strike. One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one- BOOM, the thunder would roll through our neighborhood, shaking everything to its foundation.

When I read Gino Wickman and Mark Winter’s most recent book, Rocket Fuel, I thought, “What an apt metaphor for the roles of Visionary and Integrator.”

It's hard to believe that the first quarter of 2015 is already history. By now the results should be in and hopefully you're seeing growth. Unfortunately, many companies won't see much difference from Q1 of 2014.

It’s common for eager leadership teams to take on too much in the early years of the business. By trying to get everything done at once and making everything important, they run the risk of getting nothing done. When you make everything a big issue, then there’s never enough time to give each goal the attention that it needs. The EOS® approach teaches leadership teams that by focusing on a few goals instead of too many, you will actually accomplish more. It’s called the Power of Focus, and it’s something that you need to be successful.

Many small business owners are so confident in their vision and so passionate about what they are doing in the business that they are shocked to learn that not everyone in the company shares their vision. This should be a wake up call for business owners who assume that everyone is working towards the same goals. Business coaches, or EOS Implementers™, teach leadership teams that it’s their responsibility to share their V/TO™ and inspire their people with a compelling vision. You may find that when you are sharing your vision, not everyone on the team feels the same way, and that’s ok! Those who understand your vision and who are fully committed to it will be working towards the shared goals of the business every day and their actions will speak for themselves.

A key to gaining traction in your business is to put together a leadership team consisting of people who share the company’s vision with you. Creating a team of people who each have clear accountabilities and who are prepared to take initiative when it comes to leading their people is a critical part of developing a successful business. Your leadership team must also be willing to be open and honest about all issues. When you have the right people in the right seats for your leadership team, everything else you build within the company will be based upon that structure.