The term “company culture” has undoubtedly become a buzzword, but this doesn’t mean the concept lacks merit or importance. Indeed, the importance of company culture cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, it cannot be easily quantified either. Every company operates differently, after all, and there are no hard and fast rules for establishing, maintaining, or adjusting a company’s culture. That said, if your business is falling behind, losing employees, struggling to onboard solid people, etc., chances are your culture is the culprit, at least in part.
Conversely, a strong company culture often yields growth, boosts morale, increases reputation, and spurs innovation. Why? Simply put, humans are social creatures that thrive in environments that offer and encourage both freedom and collaboration. If we don’t feel comfortable expressing our ideas in an open, receptive environment, a lot will go unsaid, and a company can grow stale as a result. Likewise, people perform their best when they enjoy their work and the atmosphere in which they work — this atmosphere directly stems from culture.
So, the question remains: have you established a strong company culture? If you’re not sure, here are some ways to assess your current culture in order to improve it.
How to Establish a Strong Company Culture
Remember: Performance Often Reflects Culture
As just mentioned above, employee and team performance is inextricably linked to culture. Other factors come into play, of course, such as competence, how well someone fits their role, and elements that are mostly out of anyone’s control. For the most part, though, one way to gauge your current culture is to track performance. If you notice a decline or consistent lack of progress, these issues may stem from cultural issues. Perhaps employees do not feel adequately incentivized to perform better. Maybe there is a general lack of enthusiasm or morale. Team members may not feel well-connected, either, which can impede communication.
Turn to Your Turnover Rates
Your business’ turnover rates can also cue you into cultural problems. Some level of turnover is to be expected in any enterprise — people move, change careers, find better opportunities, and so on. However, if your company experiences high levels of turnover for your industry, this speaks to a weak, potentially toxic company culture. Strong company cultures make everyone feel welcomed and valued day in and day out. And team members are more likely to stick with a company that recognizes their contributions and compensates them accordingly. So, if you want to hang on to your best people, you must cultivate such a culture.
Recognize The Role of Human Resources
If your goal is to create and maintain a great company culture, you must properly invest in your human resources (HR) department. One of the main goals of HR departments is to build and influence a company’s culture for the betterment of all employees, teams, and the organization as a whole. In order to do this, HR leaders take on a number of responsibilities, such as facilitating training, education and communication; identifying, clarifying, and reinforcing company values; empowering individuals and teams; mediating, mitigating, and solving issues; recognizing individuals, teams, and organizational efforts, and more. HR leaders also play a pivotal role in the hiring process, helping to identify candidates that will fit into and/or enhance the existing company culture.
Hear From Your People
One of the best ways to get a pulse on your organization’s culture is to receive feedback from those within the company. You might distribute a standardized, anonymized company culture survey to collect key data. Your survey might feature a list of questions, prompts, and/or parameters for individuals to answer directly and/or rate on a scale of 1-5, “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree,” etc., such as:
- I feel like I have the opportunity to grow in this organization
- I like what I do
- I feel valued
- I trust my team
- I feel comfortable speaking my mind
- I feel heard
- etc.
This information can be used to make sweeping and granular changes within your business to improve and adjust the culture as needed.
Finding the Balance Between Stability and Flexibility
A strong company culture is not necessarily an unmovable company culture. Put another way, the best workplace cultures should be sturdy but flexible enough to adapt to new challenges and developments. While businesses should exercise caution when changing company culture, they should not fear doing so when it is truly called for. Finding this balance between stability and flexibility is not always easy, which is why it is so important to collaborate closely with your HR departments, employees, and teams to establish a set of shared values that will properly move the organization, and everyone in it, forward.At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow at times like these when you need it most.
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Quality of leadership largely determines whether an organization rises, falls, or remains stagnant. But leaders do not magically descend from some higher realm — they are cultivated over time through experience, training, and perseverance. Indeed, nearly every company contains its share of potential leaders, and it is the responsibility of current leaders to identify and foster future leadership or else risk leaving a major hole in the organization upon leaving.
Of course, not every worker is destined to be (or interested in being) a leader. Investing in these individuals is not a waste of time, but the lion’s share of leadership development resources are better spent on those who display leadership potential. With that in mind, let’s go over how to spot future leaders at your organization.
How to Find a Future Leader
Ask Yourself: Who Goes the Extra Mile?
When seeking the future leaders of your company, a good place to start is by looking at results. Consider who in your organization consistently goes above and beyond expectations. Employees that are highly results-driven prove their enthusiasm and skill, and team members that come up with new, innovative ideas drive the company’s efforts into new territories. Pay close attention to these people in your company who keep the enterprise moving forward with passion, as they already exhibit strong leadership qualities.
Weigh Both Potential and Performance
Performance is undoubtedly a key indicator when spotting future leaders, but it is not the end-all-be-all. Indeed, you may have employees who work extremely hard but don’t exude much leadership potential. “Leadership potential” is a somewhat ambiguous metric, of course, and therefore more difficult to pick apart than hard data. Still, pay attention to those with specific leadership skills, such as strong communication, team-building aptitude, a desire to grow and learn, creativity, etc. Even if they’re not your top performers in terms of your bottom line, they might be perfect fits for various leadership roles in the future, helping those top performers reach new heights.
Shake Up the Structure
One helpful way to get a beat on future leaders is by stirring the pot a bit — namely, rotating job duties and/or assigning new roles to people every now and again. In doing so, some individuals will take full advantage of the opportunity, learning new skills and pushing themselves beyond their perceived limits. Others may wish to stay in their comfort zone and/or buckle under the pressure. Those in the former category just might be your future leaders. Job rotation is a powerful exercise for succession planning, as it can help you determine which candidates could adapt and take on new roles when necessary.
Ask Yourself: Who Is Asking Questions?
While not everyone who asks questions is bound to be a leader, all future leaders ask questions. This spirit of inquiry is directly related to strong communication and therefore strong leadership. So, keep an eye on those who take the time to clarify concepts, inquire about specifics, seek solutions to ongoing problems, and ask seemingly simple questions that others might be too timid to ask.
Train Your Eye for Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence, or “EQ,” is one of the most important qualities of a good leader. Those who can listen to the concerns and suggestions of others and act accordingly strengthen the company’s culture, encourage employee buy-in, promote teamwork, and improve the organization’s reputation and operations as a whole. When looking for EQ in future leaders, look for individuals who display empathy, self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, and strong social skills.
Ask Yourself: Who Is Invested in the Organization?
Lastly, even if you’ve found a handful of candidates who meet the above criteria, you have to consider whether or not they’re in it for the long-haul. Those who show strong leadership potential are in high-demand, after all, and many businesses spend significant resources training future managers only to have them exit the organization shortly after. While you can’t force any of your leaders to stay, though, investing in their growth is a crucial way to retain your top talent. And those who routinely express their interest in the company’s future and their role in it are top contenders for future leaders. In short, if a potential leader is invested in your organization, you must invest in their development.
Developing future leaders in your company starts with identifying the best candidates. And once you know what to look for, you may be pleasantly surprised at how many people in your organization could become leaders down the line.At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow at times like these when you need it most.
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As attached as you might be to your company right now, there will come a time when it is either necessary or practical to make your exit. Of course, this eventuality might be decades away — regardless of when it happens, though, those in leadership roles must consider how the company will change as a result of their absence.
For many, these thoughts provide an ample source of leadership stress. And yet, avoiding them can lead to personal and company-wide problems down the road. If you have no exit strategy in place, you run several risks when you leave: your company might not survive the transition; the organization might radically change its values, mission, goals, etc. (perhaps for the worse); and/or the many efforts you made over the years might be lost.
So, what’s the solution? While there may be no single “secret” to exiting your company while keeping your legacy intact, here are some important ways to leave strategically and graciously.
How to Leave a Company With Good Standing
Identify and Develop Up and Coming Leaders
Your company should spend adequate time and resources developing leadership as a key component of its succession strategy. These efforts will allow current leaders to pass on values, strategies, knowledge, and more to employees who show promise and ambition. And in doing so, these up and coming leaders will be able to fill roles that are left open when someone finally exits. Strategic leadership training can take many forms, but its main focus should be to prepare newer employees to not only take over necessary responsibilities, but to manage them in ways that are commensurate with the company’s underlying values.
Cultivate a Firm Yet Flexible Culture
Every company is different, and therefore so is every company culture. That said, every organizational culture should have these core aspects in common — they should be firm enough to withstand major changes (such as the absence of certain leaders and employees), yet flexible enough to change and improve over time. During your time with the company, then, you should focus on establishing such a culture that, when you leave, the company still represents the core values you helped to imbue while healthily evolving based on societal and internal developments.
Put Financial Incentives in Place (ESOPs)
If you want you and your people to maintain a vested interest in your company, (financially speaking) even after leaving, developing an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is one way to do so. It is worth noting that these plans can be quite complex and lead to various issues as well, so it’s important to weigh all of the potential costs and benefits with a certified exit planning advisor (CEPA) before making a final decision. Still, ESOPs can become a key component in your succession planning strategy, encouraging employees to take a larger stake in the company’s outcomes.
Leaving Doesn’t Mean Abandoning Ship Entirely
Depending on when and how you exit the company, you may still be able to play a role in its future success, imparting your wisdom and insights from a distance. For instance, you may be able to work as a part-time contractor or consultant to continue helping with leadership development and guiding the direction of the enterprise without steering the vessel. Your experience can be invaluable in helping employees and leaders deal with difficult decisions, stress, burnout, interpersonal issues, and so much more.
Leaving an organization is never easy, but taking the right steps during and after your time there can help set up the company for future success — success that is partially hinged on the contributions you have made and perhaps continue to make.At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow at times like these when you need it most.
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Regardless of whether the world returns to normal or adopts a “new normal,” change remains constant. The transformation of the physical workplace to the virtual office has been in the making long before the current pandemic, and will only accelerate moving forward. This technological shift has created countless opportunities and innovations, but it comes with a number of costs, too — most notably the lack of physical interaction. Humans are social creatures, after all, and sharing a physical location undoubtedly facilitates communication, strengthens interpersonal bonds, aids in education, and more.
That said, there is still plenty to be gained in the virtual space for everyone, including leadership coaches and their students. Let’s discuss how limited interaction presents challenges in terms of leadership coaching, and how virtual leadership coaching can break through these obstacles and bring its own value to the table.
How to Overcome Virtual Work and Learning
Embrace Connective Technology
As isolating as these times may be, consider how fortunate many of us are to have access to multiple forms of virtual interaction. Not only can we text and call one another — now, we can conduct prolonged online meetings of various sizes via Zoom, Google Hangouts, Facebook Live, and other proprietary video conferencing software. These tools might not replace the feeling of a physical workplace, but they act as a close proxy, allowing coaches and teams to have real-time discussions, share documents, ask questions, and even socialize.
Of course, these tools are only valuable if everyone in a given organization has access to them. So, virtual coaches must ensure that they, as well as their teams, share the same technology and know how to properly use it. Otherwise, some members may get left out, and/or significant time and effort may get wasted troubleshooting. In short, social technology is a virtual coach’s best friend, and the foundation for a strong online leadership development program, so long as everyone is on the same page.
Adjust Frequency and Format of Meetings Accordingly
If you are moving all or most of your operations to the virtual space, your organization will naturally take on a new rhythm. People work at different paces, and this fact may get amplified if they are working remotely. That said, there are occasions that require all team members to unite their thoughts and efforts. But it’s one thing to wrangle several people who share an office into an in-person meeting — it’s another thing to conduct a virtual meeting where every member must join remotely.
In other words, leadership coaches may need to change how they schedule and run meetings and leadership training seminars to account for this physical separation. Virtual meetings might have to occur more frequently to maintain accountability, they may need to be shorter or longer depending on remote workflow, and they might need to be structured differently to ensure all voices are heard.
Think “Physical” Distance, Social Cohesion
Communication and performance management go hand in hand. The term “social distancing” has taken hold in the global lexicon, but some have argued that “physical distancing” is both more accurate and more helpful in these times. Indeed, humans can socially interact without sharing a physical space, and in fact, this social interaction may be more important now than ever before. This sentiment applies to a company’s culture, too.
Business leaders and coaches must redouble their efforts to reach their teams on a personal level, especially when physically separated. The culture doesn’t merely cease to exist when the office is empty, after all. People make up the organization and good leaders help keep it together and strengthen it. Do not let limited physical interaction prevent this social cohesion. Before, during, and after virtual meetings, make sure to discuss matters outside the scope of work; hold weekly virtual social/team-building events; have fun with filters and backgrounds during video chats; the list goes on.
Leadership is Not Limited to a Location
Making the change from a physical to a virtual workplace (even if it’s temporary or partial) is bound to yield some growing pains. That said, the pursuit of your company’s goals and leadership development remains firm. And with the advent of today’s technology, you don’t have to slow down or skip a beat when it comes to growing your business and its leaders as long you are adaptable and forward-thinking.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow at times like these when you need it most.
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The world is always changing, but the past few months have accelerated the rate of these changes significantly. While many companies have been incorporating remote work as a key part of their models for over a decade, recent events have made this trend a necessity. In many ways, this sudden shift is encouraging, revealing the many benefits of remote work, such as less time spent commuting, production-focused performance management, cost savings associated with less office use, and more. But just because it is possible and/or required to work from home these days doesn’t mean the downsides of remote work simply disappear.
During these unprecedented times of physical separation, businesses may struggle to keep teams unified, focused, and on track. As it turns out, though, this change in the status quo presents an opportunity to invest in virtual support and training methods that will strengthen your teams and leaders wherever they are. More specifically, you might consider adopting the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)® for your enterprise, taking advantage of its online components. Let’s go over how expert virtual EOS support can help you keep your teams on track during challenging times.
Understanding EOS®
The Entrepreneurial Operating System consists of various practical tools, resources, and concepts aimed at helping businesses and entrepreneurs achieve their goals, maintain a unified vision, promote healthy leadership development, and foster stronger team cohesion and communication. The beauty of this system is that it can be implemented via in-person and/or online meetings. In other words, businesses can reap the rewards of EOS even when social distancing is a priority.
What Does Virtual EOS® Support Look Like?
Whether in-person or online, EOS support begins by partnering up with an EOS Implementer™. These experts act as guides for the entire process, educating you and your teams on the EOS Model™ and EOS Process®, then supervising various meetings for your organization. Unlike other online business coaching programs, EOS is designed to be highly adaptable, meaning the content of each meeting is directly informed by the business’ short- and long-term goals and issues. By compartmentalizing in this way, your business can stay focused on what needs to get done, when, and prioritize accordingly.
To keep your company on track, your virtual EOS Implementer will conduct The 90-Minute Meeting™ to get your leadership team on the same page, schedule The Focus Day™ and Vision Building™ Days to introduce foundational tools and explain their uses, guide you along quarterly and annual planning sessions, help you uncover and resolve short- and long-term issues within your organization, and remotely check in as needed to ensure your continued success. In short, virtual EOS support acts as an online leadership development regiment, team-building strategy, goal-setting apparatus, problem-solving system, and overall organizational health and growth thermometer.
Keep Your Organization on Track with Virtual EOS® Support
As we continue to face difficult and uncertain times, make sure your business maintains a solid foundation and company culture. The Entrepreneurial Operating System can help you navigate any and all obstacles in your way and prepare you for those yet to come. And even if you cannot meet with an EOS Implementer face-to-face right now, you can still benefit just as much with virtual EOS support.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how we can help your business succeed and grow.
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We’re at a critical turning point in our global economy. New forces are shaking up our world and most companies are being forced to change how they operate.
What if your company could continue to grow and thrive despite these challenging circumstances? What if it could emerge on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic stronger than ever?
How Business Coaches Help Growth
Business Coaches: The Ultimate Team Players
With the help of a business coach, a good company becomes a great company – no matter what’s happening in the world. That’s because a coach helps your employees stay flexible, introspective, and motivated, day after day.
A coach gives a giant dose of perspective when things feel overwhelming. They help people adapt to change and view it as an opportunity rather than a threat, reenergizing them to stay productive at work.
Jaye Stentz, a coach and leadership development specialist at Leadership Resources, explains that coaching provides an emotional outlet for employees who might not usually feel comfortable expressing themselves.
“We help them ‘peel back the layers of the onion,’ in coach terms,” Stentz explains. “It’s a metaphor for having a comfortable environment to sort of peel back those layers and get real – to be authentic about what’s difficult for you as an individual, in terms of change.”
Flexibility Fuels Growth
When a company’s employees are more open to the idea of change, they’re more open to other things that help a company succeed: teamwork, productivity, innovation, accountability. Suddenly, they’re devising new ways to burst through roadblocks that seemed impossible before.
Katie Maschmann, also a coach and leadership development specialist at Leadership Resources, says coaching helps people gain new insights and build flexibility in their thinking.
“We see the world not necessarily as it is, but as who we are,” Maschmann says. “A coach can help an individual see the world and situations from different perspectives and help them better identify issues that might have been hard to see from their perspective.”
How to Learn More About Coaching
Stentz, Maschmann, and other Leadership Resources experts share key insights about business coaching in our new whitepaper, 7 Ways a Coach Helps You Grow Your Company and Win. In the whitepaper, you’ll learn about the power of coaching and how it addresses the human side of business growth.
Explore topics like:
- How a coach calls a timeout and huddles with your employees
- Why coaching is important during and after a pandemic
- Coaching ourselves, then coaching others
- The importance of accountability
- Boosting sales and profitability
- Improving recruitment through coaching
- Common red flags and coaching tips
Download the Whitepaper: 7 Ways a Coach Helps You Grow Your Company and Win
For more information about business coaches and helping your employees succeed, connect with Leadership Resources. We provide coaching, strategic planning, EOS® implementation, leadership development, and proprietary technology called Accelerate. With our help, your company can achieve its larger vision.
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A successful coach isn’t always a game-winning coach. I’ve seen evidence of this up-close in all of my experience coaching youth sports, where our team might lose but each individual child comes out of the game with more experience, focus, and positivity.
As a youth sports coach, this was always my goal: help each child feel like a winner, no matter what the scoreboard says. Over the course of my lifetime, I’ve played twelve sports, coached eight sports, and officiated nine sports. I’ve also been a spectator and a parent of a youth player.
My diverse sports background has taught me the importance of helping people find the untapped potential within themselves. I’ve also discovered the power of communicating in a clear, simple way that resonates with a wide variety of people: children, parents, youth coaches, spectators, and referees.
Just like in youth sports, business professionals appreciate having complex concepts boiled down into basic terms. When I was a youth coach, I created something called: The MODEL Coach Concept which I now see how applicable it is to business and aligns with EOS®
How Coaching Sports and Business Overlap
The MODEL Coach Concept
This concept has five main elements:
Mentally Prepares
Organizes
Develops Every Player
Encourages
Leads by Example
As you understand more about what each part of this concept means, you’ll see many parallels for business.
First, a coach must mentally prepare, which means they must have the right mentality for every game, every day, and every winning moment. The same goes for every leader. Successful leaders apply the EOS Five Leadership Abilities to help them mentally prepare: Simplify, Delegate (and Elevate), Predict, Systemize, and Structure.
They must also have the organization it takes to get the most out of every coaching moment with the team. The overall EOS Process provides a variety of organization benefits through mastery of the EOS Toolbox Tools with a space learning approach. My favorite tool is the Issues Solving Track — a simplified approach to continuous improvement.
A great coach is focused on the development of every player, despite the fact that players develop and mature at various rates. The same goes for leaders living the EOS Process. It is hard to predict which team member has the most undeveloped talent. Work on clarifying expectations and challenging all team members to develop their natural talents, nurturing and coaching them along their journey.
A big dose of encouragement goes a long way too. Coaches must find ways to encourage and acknowledge players in a positive and productive way. Strong leaders apply the 24-hour rule when observing both desired and undesired behaviors with their team members. The observations are expressed within 24-hours of them occurring. This especially comes into play for the Core Values that warrant ongoing attention and appropriate reinforcement.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there’s leadership by example. A coach sets the tone for everything that happens and this requires a huge amount of leadership, consistency, and follow-through on your promises. This is a direct correlation to the EOS tool, LMA (Leadership, Management, and Accountability), which also ties in nicely with the Five Leadership Abilities mentioned previously.
Envision Success and Focus on Small Things
Whether you’re gearing up for the big game or preparing for a business project, take some time to envision the future. Instead of just focusing on the win, focus on the things that are within your control – what you’ll win, even if you’re on the losing side. There can be periods of time a business is failing or struggling to hit its goals. Within the EOS Process, the Vision/Traction Organizer does a spectacular job simplifying the vision and goals of a business. This provides all team members with an opportunity to discover how they contribute to the success of the business, even in challenging times.
Now I know this sounds odd. Why would we focus on what we can control even while we’re losing?
When I coached football, I taught the players to envision scoring a touchdown. As they practiced the plays and made the movements on the field toward the end zone, they could focus on the amazing feeling of reaching it.
This is a way of building the muscle memory it takes to accomplish a goal. If you build a clear mental vision of what it takes to succeed, your mind and body are primed to get there. That’s so much more productive than simply listening to a coach drown on and on or watching other players run down the field. It’s also much more productive than always focusing on winning the big game.
Just like working as a team toward business goals, when muscle memory is built, everyone is more apt to attain goals for themselves and the collective organization as a whole. The second page of the Vision/Traction Organizer (Traction page), focuses on the shorter-term goals for the year, priorities for the current quarter, and sets aside certain issues for future consideration in the Issues List. It is just as important to know what is to be focused on, as well as what is not to focus on!
The EOS® Connection
In business, if you’re a leader and you don’t know what success looks like for your team, you won’t get there. You won’t know what you want from your team and they won’t know what you want from them.
Learn more about Dan’s work and the Entrepreneurial Operating System now!
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By: Dan Sedor, Strategic Growth Advisor & Certified EOS Implementer® at Leadership Resources
Right now it seems that everybody is focused on COVID-19 and the negative impact it’s having on their businesses. Instead, I think we need to treat this pandemic like we’re coaching a youth sports team. Let’s make a game out of it.
I’m not suggesting we literally treat the current situation like a game. Businesses are struggling, family members are sick, and people are worried about their jobs.
Here’s what I mean, instead: when business owners and employees get so bogged down by negativity, the business is at greater and greater risk of being destroyed by the current crisis.The reality is, before this pandemic, there were always unforeseen issues that could cause a company to stumble. We always lost key people at key moments. We always had high expectations for projects and processes that didn’t pan out.
And let’s remember that our competitors have always done things to wear us down, distract us, push us to make things too complex, and cause us to lose market share. The point I’m trying to make here is that it might be a “novel coronavirus,” but it’s not a novel situation. We’ve always had extremely tough barriers to success.
How Coaching Sports Helps Handle Crisis
1. Focus on What You Control & Your Desired Outcomes
In my personal experience as a football coach of a team of nine and ten-year-olds, my job is to focus on what’s within my team’s control and help the kids focus on what’s within their control individually. The competition is always there to beat you and the environment in which you’re playing may at times feel unfair.
What can you personally do about it?
Ultimately, we’ve always made a game out of it. And while everyone wants to win, what’s most important is the path you take to get there. Each individual must stay absolutely focused on what’s within your control and what can be changed in order to reach the desired outcome.
For example, think about the opposing team on the football field. You can’t control any individual opponent and you can’t control exactly how the ball is going to go down the field on every play. As the game progresses, you don’t know if the other team is going to blitz on one side of the defensive line or another.
What’s within your control is making sound decisions and quickly adapting to whatever happens.
2. Build Systems of Flexibility
Just as in youth sports, this pandemic is going to cause us to lose some yardage on one play and gain some yardage on others. Some weeks are going to be extremely tough and discouraging.
But it’s our job to stay flexible and outfox the situation as much as possible.
Now is not the time to give up! So let’s make a game out of this. The pandemic is merely exposing gaps in our business processes, marketing strategies, and within our teams. Let’s think like youth sports coaches and find new ways to stay nimble and positive as we pursue advantageous solutions.
Some of my clients using EOS® are having record quarters right now. They even feel guilty about it because the pandemic is affecting so many people so harshly, yet their company is flourishing.
I also have clients who have lost 60% of their revenue from major sources. What a huge blow. But I’m happy to say that these companies are taking steps to learn from all this and come out on the other side better, stronger, and more prepared for whatever is to come in the future.
3. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
We owe it to our teams to simplify things for them during a time of panic and confusion. They need us to boil things down to simple business concepts that will allow them to maintain their focus. During this pandemic, take a moment to marvel at how complicated your company’s goals have become and take the opportunity to hone your messages into simpler concepts your team can grasp right now.
Coach, your team is feeling overwhelmed. So what’s truly important?
Look to your company’s core values and focus on values that fit into categories such as teamwork, determination, collaboration, and positivity. Allow those core values to bolster your confidence during this time of global crisis.
Let’s make a game out of it. We can win by taking this pandemic one play at a time and showing some good sportsmanship. Now’s the time to tap into your competitive side, play a strong game, and refuse to be broken no matter what the scoreboard says.
About Dan Sedor
Dan Sedor is a Strategic Growth Advisor and Certified EOS Implementer™, as well as a founding partner at Leadership Resources. Dan is also the author of the book, “Model Coach” available on Amazon and utilizes the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS®) and customized strategic planning to help clients gain traction and grow their business. Dan is active in the community and enjoys coaching youth sports, attending country music festivals, and spending time with family.
Learn more about Dan’s work and the Entrepreneurial Operating System now!
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The business landscape has been rapidly evolving since the advent of high-speed internet, video conference platforms, and other technologies. And as the world economy becomes more connected, companies face new challenges and opportunities when it comes to hiring and retaining talent, developing future leaders, keeping teams together, and streamlining operations. The Entrepreneurial Operation System (EOS)® aims to help businesses and individuals achieve their goals amidst an ever-changing world with a complete set of simple concepts and practical tools aimed at strengthening the vision, cohesiveness, and overall health of teams.
The Benefits of Implementing EOS for Your Business
1. Keeping Teams on the Same Page Even When Separated Physically
When working remotely, leaders must employ specific team management methods to keep everyone on track. Without a solid framework, coherent goals, or established processes, this can be a major challenge. This is where Traction®, one of the Six Key Components™ outlined in the EOS Model™, comes into play. Traction focuses on taking tangible steps to execute shared goals via regular meetings at specific intervals. In other words, the principles of Traction negate the importance of physical distance — as long as everyone can clearly communicate, the company’s vision can be realized.
2. Maintaining Accountability Remotely
Traction (and all of EOS) is also about accountability and performance management. Again, physical separation can make it difficult for team members to keep tabs on one another. But by implementing the EOS Process® virtually for your business, you can maintain accountability in your teams no matter where they may be. For instance, a virtual Focus Day™ is designated to give your leaders tools to clarify roles and priorities within your organization, as well as resolve lingering issues and improve communication overall. Leaders then use what they have learned over the next 30 days to track tangible improvement.
3. Cultivating an Adaptable Company Culture
Organizations must retain some flexibility to respond and adapt to whatever changes occur in the world and within their industry. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly forced several businesses to shift their operations partially or completely online. No one knows when or even if things will return to the way they were prior to this global event. The “Quarterly Pulsing” of the EOS Process, which refer to sessions every 90 days to evaluate performance, reset priorities, resolve issues, etc., help create a dynamic, adaptable company culture that is strong enough to weather major external changes but also willing and able to change itself to benefit the organization as a whole.
4. Entering a Global Network of Entrepreneurs
Effective leadership development takes place both within an organization and outside of it. To truly grow as a leader, one must venture outside of their company and experience different places and opportunities, meet new people, and build a network of like-minded individuals. One of the distinct advantages of implementing EOS for your business is that it opens you up a global network of entrepreneurs. Normally, EOS hosts in-person conferences for people to meet and mingle. Of course, during these unprecedented times, these physical meetings are not viable. As a result, EOS has increased its output of webinars and even changed their conference to a virtual one so leaders around the globe can still share ideas and grow together without being in the same location.
If your organization has been struggling to reach its short- and long-term goals, implementing EOS can help get you back on course. And now, as businesses are encouraged to operate remotely if possible, the tools and principles of EOS are especially worth investing in to keep your people on the same page, your business ahead of the curve, and continuing to develop your leaders.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how we can help your business succeed and grow.
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Your top talent is highly valuable, and therefore also in high demand by other organizations. In this competitive global economy, landing quality people can be challenging in and of itself — keeping them around can be even more difficult. And considering that your company’s potential is directly tied to the potential and performance of its people, you cannot afford to let your top talent slip away.
In our previous post, “How to Keep Top Talent from Leaving Your Company,” we discussed how recruitment, company culture, regular feedback, competitive benefits, and leadership development all contribute to employee retention. Here we’ll further explore how long-term leadership development in particular can help you keep your best talent.
How Leadership Development Keeps Your Best Employees
The Power of Recognition
Effective employee management and leadership development requires plenty of feedback, which should include a healthy mixture of positive recognition and constructive criticism. And while every member of your organization should receive this regular feedback, it is especially important to maintain consistent communication with your best talent. Recognizing your top talent for their input and achievements and pointing out areas of improvement will simultaneously help them further develop their leadership skills while conveying their value to the company. When your people feel valued, they are more likely to stick around.
New Opportunities Energize Employees
There are many ways to develop the leadership potential of your top talent. In-person and online seminars, group training activities, and one-on-one meetings are all part of this equation, but real-world experience is often the most potent form of leadership development. By empowering your top talent to take on new roles and responsibilities, you help them gain crucial insights that are applicable to your organization and at large. This experiential leadership development opens doors for your best talent and lets them know that even more opportunities await if they continue to grow with the company.
Finding the Right Fit for One’s Skills
Long term succession planning is a major focus of all forward-thinking businesses. And a solid plan for the future depends on the advancement of top talent within your organization. Put another way, you need capable leaders at the ready to fill new roles and to take over existing ones when the time is right. Implementing effective leadership development programs not only prepares your top talent for these new positions — it also helps your company find the right positions for the right people. Indeed, employees are more likely to stay with an organization if they feel properly suited for their role and valued for their unique abilities. In other words, as you develop your top talent into strong leaders, they become more integral to the company as a whole and shape its direction moving forward.
The Leadership Domino Effect
The best leadership training programs have a positive, exponential impact on your top talent and all of your employees. As your people grow, they tend to pass on their new skills and knowledge both actively and passively, which encourages others to develop, too. This domino effect strengthens teams and an organization’s culture overall, improving the performance of your current top talent and producing new potential leaders in the process. As a result, you won’t just keep your best talent around — you’ll have even more of it.
Long-Term Success Depends on Long-Term Leadership Development
If you want to retain your best people, you need to recognize their contributions, give them new opportunities, and find the right roles for their talents. Focusing on leadership development helps achieve all of these things and sets your business up for continual success. In this way, effective leadership development, talent management and succession planning are all inextricably linked.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow at times like these when you need it most.
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