In my last post, I referred to “heads-down management,” a term used to describe leaders who duck to avoid inevitable collisions with unpleasant circumstances. In other words, they avoid bad news.
Setback, flop, mistake, screw-up, failure, fiasco, botch or—as I like to think of these things—wonderful opportunities to figure out how not to do something.
The best parenting advice I ever got was to date my kids. For all the parenting mistakes I made, I took this one to heart and to this day I have strong relationships and open communication with my adult children. The idea is simple. I asked for one hour each week and I’d buy (of course). They pick the place and time, they just have to talk…about anything. Their agenda not mine, I just needed to hear what’s going on. My promise was not to lecture.
At EOS we coach leadership teams to be open and honest with each other. This means they should be solving business issues without blame and finger-pointing. Proposed solutions to issues should be agenda-free. Leadership teams should have a united front and strive to eliminate politics from the culture. In other words, it’s about having a healthy, functional, cohesive team.
When implementing EOS, clients often say, “this may be simple, but it’s not easy!” And they’re right. I’ve been helping other companies master these tools for more than seven years, and I’m still learning something new every day.
For the last fifteen years, I’ve been teaching a discovery regarding the two vital roles at the top of most great entrepreneurial businesses. These roles are called the Visionary and Integrator. The fact is that every true Visionary needs to be counter-balanced with a great Integrator if he or she wants his or her vision to be fully realized.
YOUR PRIVACY CHOICES