Part 2 of my interview Mark Urso, the owner and president of Bear Contracting, a heavy civil contractor out of Bridgeport, WV.
Me: Mark, What was one immediate effect of implementing EOS into your business?
Mark: We gained more transparency, and hence accountability. We were able to identify that some people were not only NOT doing their jobs, the things they were doing were hurting us.
ENTERING THE DANGER
Can you imagine the feeling Mark got in the pit of his stomach when he made that discovery?
And as bad as that feeling may have been, can you imagine the consequences in your business of NOT making that discovery?
Great leaders like Mark Urso “enter the danger”. He knew he had to act, but he also acknowledged to himself that he had limited time to figure out what exactly was going on in the business.
Great leaders make difficult decisions. Mark “went there.” Here’s how he started his journey to grow accountability in Bear.
TRANSPARENCY is the mother of ACCOUNTABILITY, and when implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System™ (EOS™), you get transparency, and a LOT of it, during your first Session, called “Focus Day™.”
The Accountability Chart™: Your Leadership Team (LT) wrestles together answering the question of how the company needs to be structured in the next 6-12 months. They go on to determine which “seat” is responsible for “what” and who is going to sit in that seat. This first LT discussion frequently uncovers gaps in who’s doing what today.
ROCKS: The LT works together to determine what the most important things are that must be DONE in the next 60-90 days. That conversation helps business owners get a peek into how his LT members prioritize. He/she frequently discovers that some of his/her leaders don’t understand what’s important.
The LEVEL 10 MEETING™: We teach the LT how to conduct world-class meetings on a weekly basis to help them get on the same page, and shine a hot, bright spotlight on who’s getting what done. And who’s not.
SCORECARD: We develop a list of 5-15 weekly measurables (KPIs) that help the owner and his/her LT keep an absolute pulse on what’s happening on a weekly basis. Each measurable has an ‘owner.’ And we don’t “share” accountability.
Whether you implement EOS™ into your business or not, the principles are the same: Create an environment of transparency by focusing on what matters the most on a weekly basis, and make sure every member of your LT gets their turn standing in the spotlight.
The advantage of using EOS is that there’s no escape. As long as you use the EOS Tools as intended, the spotlight never dims. Sounds intimidating, but what EOS really does, as it did for Mark, is it helps you figure out who is aligned with your vision for your company and who’s not. It also builds TRUST among your LT members, because they want to work alongside other LT members who are willing to be as accountable as they are.
If you would like to sample the EOS Journey in a free, 90 Minute Meeting, you can get in touch with me HERE or email me at will.karbach@eosworldwide.com
Will Karbach is a Certified EOS Implementer, serving VA, WV, NC, DC, and Western MD
