At EOS Worldwide, we as EOS Implementers, are obsessive about making sure the leadership teams we work with are 100% on the same page with the vision and plan for their company. This Clarity Break is to urge you to do the same with your leadership team.
This is not because we have OCD, not because we’re gluttons for punishment, and not because we’re trying to fill time. We do it for one reason: because it’s the right thing to do.
In my experience, the number one reason that a successful leadership team achieves its vision is that the team is 100% in sync, on the same page, and in alignment with the company’s vision. With that said, it’s important to define vision. Simply put, an organization’s vision and plan is defined by 8 factors, or “8 questions,” as we describe them. They are as follows:
- What are your Core Values? (culture)
- What is your Core Focus? (sweet spot)
- What is your 10-Year Target? (long-range goal)
- What is your Marketing Strategy? (ideal customer and message)
- What is your 3-Year Picture? (mid-term vision)
- What is your 1-Year Plan? (short-term plan)
- What are your Rocks? (quarterly priorities)
- What are your Issues? (opportunities, problems, and ideas)
These 8 questions are the 8 sections of the Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO).
This brings me to the point of this Clarity Break: how to save even more of the time that IDS already saves you.
A leadership team agreeing 100% and buying into the answers to these 8 questions will substantially increase its likelihood of success. Rarely is the issue that a team doesn’t have a vision; the issue is usually that they don’t agree with each other.
The major reason for a leadership team’s success is rarely due to personality, skill level, leadership style, culture, or myriad other measures. It’s “same-pageness,” as one client calls it.
I urge you to be fanatical about making sure your leadership team is 100% on the same page with where you’re going and how you’re going to get there.
As we obsess about accomplishing this “same-pageness” for our clients, unfortunately the fanaticism of confirming complete buy-in results in turnover on their leadership teams. 40% of the teams we work with experience one or more members leaving the leadership team due to their not wanting what the rest of the team wants. Five of my 133 clients have experienced complete turnover on their leadership teams where the owner replaced everyone. In every case of a leadership team having any turnover, the company was better for it. It’s important to understand that there’s only so many times a member of your leadership team can disagree with the rest of the team before you realize he or she just doesn’t share the vision.
If you want to root out dysfunction, increase the speed at which your team moves, and greatly improve your decision making speed and accuracy, get your leadership team 100% on the same page with the vision for the organization.
In your next review of your company vision with your leadership team, ask “Are we 100% on the same page with our Core Values, Core Focus, 10-Year Target, Marketing Strategy, 3-Year Picture, 1-Year Plan, Rocks, and Issues?” Please be fanatical about assuring everyone is a definitive “yes.” Make sure you feel and hear the sweet sound of agreement.
Stay Focused,
- Gino
