“If I’m honest, I’m miserable. I’m stressed out every day and I feel like one issue is solved and then the next one is right there waiting for me.”
That was the answer given to me by a CEO after I checked in with her about how she was doing. We were having coffee to discuss EOS for her organization. She laid out for me that she felt her leadership team was not working well together, and the virtual nature of much of their work was adding to the issues. Things that used to work weren’t anymore. There were challenges forecasting work accurately, managing operations with any consistency, and there was some unexpected turnover that had impacted clients too. Work was not fun anymore, for anyone.
In EOS language, we call this “Hitting the Ceiling”. Simply put, things are not working right – can be processes, people, workflows, sales – pretty much any part of the business or the whole business just isn’t on track. The truth is all businesses reach this point at different times. The common mistake is not recognizing that it is time to make a committed change in the business operating format.
We’ve learned with EOS that in order to break through the ceiling, and address times of business revolution, leadership teams together and as individuals must master these five leadership abilities:
- Simplifying – if its complex for your team, how complex must it be for your prospects/customers?
- Delegating – delegate and elevate to your unique ability, get everybody doing what they do best.
- Predicting – both short and long term, so that you can correct errors when the consequences are small enough that they can’t crush your business.
- Systemize – build your franchise way of scaling your business, so you can focus on the inevitable surprises which are in store for you.
- Structuring – get all the right people in all the right seats. You have to have both – right people, right seats. No exceptions
Simple? No. But doable and necessary for businesses to continue to evolve and thrive. Now more than ever leaders are stretched, with the ways things used to be just not the same anymore. Taking time to invest in your leadership team with the practical set of tools in EOS is one way to equip the organization to respond to change better and break through what is setting limits.
