Hand-drawn sketch comparing climbing with a map and climbing with a guide

A Map or a Guide

I have a lot of respect for leadership teams that self-implement EOS.

They read Traction, start a Level 10 meeting, build a scorecard, and set their first rocks. That takes real initiative and it beats running a business on gut feel and hope.

But after working with a lot of leadership teams, I’ve noticed a pattern: self-implementing can quietly create a few problems:

  1. The person running the process is also a player in it. It’s hard to facilitate an honest IDS when you hold the strongest opinion in the room.
  2. The tools get adopted but not mastered. A scorecard no one trusts, or rocks that roll over every quarter, can convince a team that EOS doesn’t work for us. Usually it’s not the system, its how it was installed.
  3. The hard people conversation stays buried. Right Person, Right Seat is tough to address when the person leading it sits on the same team.

Pure implementation changes one big thing: the leader gets to be a full participant and an outside guide runs the process, holds everyone accountable (including the visionary), and pushes on the issues nobody wants to raise.

It’s the difference between climbing with a map and climbing with a guide. Both can get you up the mountain. One gets you there with fewer wrong turns and a lot less frustration.

If you’re self-implementing and feel stuck, you’re not doing it wrong. You may just be ready for a guide.

Ted Williamson

Growing up in an entrepreneurial household, I learned the importance of planning and executing to achieve growth and success. However, I also became aware of the challenges and limitations of running your own business. Serving in the US Merchant Marine taught me the values of discipline and accountability, which are crucial for achieving any goal or success. For close to 30 years, I’ve worked with hundreds of entrepreneurial business owners and their leadership teams. Together, we focused on vision and strategy, employee efficiency, customer satisfaction and more. In 2016, I witnessed the transformative power of EOS in my wife’s business. Over two years, it significantly improved the business in every meaningful way, leading to consistent double-digit revenue and profit growth. Most importantly, it allowed her to enjoy a better, more fulfilling life with a balanced work schedule. The moment I realized that my wife was no longer a slave to her business, I knew that EOS was the solution to many challenges faced by entrepreneurs. My passion is to help as many entrepreneurs and their leadership teams as possible achieve their visions and live a better life.

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