Episode Overview
In this episode of Real Talk with an EOS Implementer, Mark O’Donnell, Visionary at EOS Worldwide, sits down with EOS Implementer Bill Stratton to trace a leadership journey rooted in manufacturing, sharpened in the CEO seat, and ultimately redirected toward helping entrepreneurs build stronger businesses.
Bill shares how a 25-year career at a family-owned adhesive manufacturing company shaped his operational foundation, from launching international markets to leading lean transformations and running a $25 million division. When he stepped into the role of President and CEO of a 95-year-old home elevator manufacturer facing financial strain, he knew he needed more than instinct and experience. Through a peer group and an introduction to EOS, Bill discovered a framework that brought clarity to a struggling leadership team and stability to a business fighting for traction.
Bill reflects on navigating board resistance, presenting a Vision/Traction Organizer at the highest level, and watching the company double in size after realigning its structure and strategy. We also dig into the patterns Bill now sees across his clients, including the transformative impact of getting the right people in the right seats and the common struggle of setting meaningful 90-day priorities. With practical insight and candid stories, Bill explains why clear priorities, strong leadership teams, and disciplined execution are what separate businesses that stall from those that scale.
Key Takeaways
- Operational range builds leadership range: Bill’s path through sales, operations, lean, procurement, and scheduling shows how broad experience across the business sharpens decision-making and coaching leadership teams.
- Peer support works best when it is not optional: By formalizing his participation in a CEO peer group, Bill treated outside perspective as a requirement, not a luxury. That decision helped him stabilize cash flow and lead through real financial pressure.
- When growth stalls, look beyond the obvious: Two straight weeks of issue-solving revealed lagging performance had nothing to do with sales execution and everything to do with an outdated route-to-market that was eroding margin and market share.
- Business model shifts gain traction when the team owns the solution: A strategic pivot is more likely to succeed when the leadership team aligns around the idea and pressure-tests it. Shared ownership builds credibility and increases success.
- Writing strong 90-day priorities is a learned discipline: Many teams begin with goals that are vague, overly ambitious, or disconnected from capacity. Learning to define specific, realistic Rocks that truly move the business forward accelerates traction.
Full Episode Transcript
From Adhesives to Elevators to EOS
0:01
Mark: Hey there, everyone. I am pleased to have Certified EOS Implementer Bill Straton with me today. How are you doing, Bill?
Bill: I’m doing great, Mark.
Mark: Awesome. It’s good to have you here, and I just really want to get your story. How did you get to where you are as a Certified EOS Implementer, helping clients every day? Just start from the beginning. I mean, maybe not from like the womb and coming, maybe not that far back, but you could if you wanted to. It’s your choice.
Bill: Well, let’s take it back to when I moved to the Lancaster area, which was in 1986. I took a job at a small family-owned manufacturing company that makes pressure sensitive adhesive tape products, and it was a great journey. I was there for over 25 years and was part of, was on the Leadership Team for many of those years. And we took that business from 13 million to 115 million. And we went from, let’s see, global. No, a national player to a global player. I got to travel the world. I actually launched our business in Asia. I launched several new markets for us during those times.
Bill: And then in my last few years there, I ran a business. I ran a $25 million division, and then went into operations and had Le the lean transformation there, procurement, scheduling. So I got a bunch of every part of the business, and I loved it. It was great. But I reached a point where I, my boss who was a president, was five years younger than me. So I knew, well, okay, this isn’t going to work.
Bill: And at the same time while I was there, I was, I was in a Vistage key group and love Vistage and learned all about it and really got into that, that, and, and I was thinking early on, like in the 2003, 2005 time frame, that I’d love to do something like a Vistage chair. Or maybe I looked into the tab franchising, and we have some of our Implementers are the franchisees of the alternative board. And so I looked at that, but didn’t pull the plug. I had kids in college at the time, and I thought, let’s get them through college first.
2:22
Bill: And then later on I wanted to become a Vistage chair, and I had run a $25 million business. And Vistage said, well, you’ve got to be a CEO first. And I said, well, okay, I’ll find a CEO job. And actually, I was offered a CEO job in 2014 for manufacturer of home elevators, and it was losing money. I already knew them because I was on the board for a couple years, and they needed someone to come in and stop the bleeding. So that’s what I did.
Bill: I took that job in 2014 as president CEO of a 95y old business owned by two families. And part of the deal going in was I insisted, it’s actually in my employment contract, that I was in a group because I knew I needed help. I knew I wanted to have other peers that can help me, and so I joined that Vistage group.
Bill: And I did stop the bleeding. It was in 2014, 2015 that we started getting positive cash flow. I wasn’t worried about making payroll every two weeks, which is a great thing when you running a business.
Mark: Yeah, I’ve waited by the mailbox for those invoices to come in and with the check so I can make payroll. It’s not the most fun you can have.
Bill: No, it’s not. And then the timing your payments to our suppliers, it was, it was, it was challenging, but we got through it. We started to grow again. And a couple years into it, I felt we could do better, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I was building a Leadership Team.
Finding EOS & Starting the Journey
Bill: And I was a host for our vistage CE group in, I think, May 2016. The speaker was Rosie Rosenberg. I don’t know if you’re familiar with process.
Mark: I am, yeah.
Bill: Well, he was a speaker that day, and since I was a host, at the end of that day he gave me a copy of Get A Grip.
Mark: Interesting. Interesting.
Bill: So I started reading the book, and the light bulb went off. And I said, ah, we got to do this. So I reached out to EOS Worldwide. This was in June of 2016. Talked to Shan Fain, who was one leads back then, and she introduced me to Hank Donald. Hank came out, gave a 990 with my Leadership Team and me. And within two days I called him back and said, yes, Hank, let’s do this, because we all wanted to do it.
Bill: And so we began our EOS implementation journey at, at Inclinator Company of America, a company I worked for, in September of 2016. And it was an amazing journey. It was transformational, starting at the Leadership Team level and then working through the whole company. And it really, really, really was impactful.
5:00
Bill: The second year of our journey, because we had an issue, we weren’t growing our sales. They was, they should have been trending the residential housing starts. It should have been that trend, and we weren’t. We were losing market share, and we couldn’t put our finger on it.
Bill: And that’s the only issue we had for two weeks in a row at a leadership level 10 meetings. Just, why aren’t we growing the business? And we actually got to root cause. Root cause had nothing to do with the sales him.
Bill: And I was, I was a sales leader and the Integrator at the same time.
Mark: And so you weren’t the problem is what you’re saying.
Bill: Well, I thought I was not me, yeah. But it, it show. And it showed up when John, John was our plant manager. And he’d come in, and I just remember he just looked at me and says, Bill, what am I going to do in three weeks? We don’t have enough orders to fill the plant. And it was very direct. And I said, we got to fix this, and that’s why we started I sing it. But the real root issue was our business model.
Bill: Our model was selling to independent wholesale dealers, who would install and serve as the elevators. And there were a couple of upstart newer businesses that were manufacturing elevators. They were going direct to builders, and they were undercutting our price. And it really hit the fan when the house right next to my mother-in-law’s was being built, and we had a DE dealer nearby. And I asked her why, you know, why she couldn’t get it, and she told me the price. And it was like we couldn’t compete.
The Business Model Shift & Becoming an Implementer
6:36
Bill: And so what was happening is we were bleeding. We weren’t making that much money. And we figured, wait a minute, we had staff that could install the elevators. There was a dealer who was closing shop in the Philly area. And we just said, wait a minute, why don’t we install? Why don’t we try a region where we can install the elevator? Because you make a lot, the money is in the installation and surface. It’s not in the wholesale manufacturing.
Bill: And so actually, we put together a proposal. We went to the board in June of, no, May, it was May of 2018. And there’s some resistance, but eventually they said yes, do it. And so we actually formed a whole new division to support that new business model. And I know that summer we bought our first trailer and Van for installation. And we had a dream of, this is going to take off. And it started to. We started getting a lot of orders.
Bill: And at that time, the Leadership Team was clicking. I mean, it was really, really strong. And I had a good second in command. His name is Cliff. He’s currently the CEO and president of the business. And I went to the board and the owners and said, you know what, I’ve done my work. You don’t need me anymore. Promote Cliff. Cliff will do a great job for you.
Bill: I want to go out and do what Hank does. I want to make a difference to other business owners and their Leadership Teams the way he made for us, because it was, it was transformational force. So that, that’s how I become an, a Implementer. And I left. I gave him four months’ notice, and I left in September. And I was at the Denver, first Denver boot camp. Best boot camp ever.
Mark: Yep. Of course, because every boot camp is the best boot camp ever, because it’s your boot camp.
Mark: Yeah. So just a great story, Bill. And when I think about your time, we had a little bit of a crossover in our careers because you were at adhesives research, and my company was a contractor toward to adhesives research doing some engineering commissioning qualification work. So I was like, oh yeah, I’ve been there, I’ve been there.
Bill: That’s right. That’s when we’re building the ARX business, the whole new coding line.
Mark: Yep, yep. That’s right. 2007 time frame, yes.
Mark: So that was one of, my business was a startup at that point in time, and of course our clients didn’t know it. You know, I always joke that for myself, when I became an EOS Implementer, my first client still does not know that they were my first client. Nobody wants to be experimented on.
Bill: My first client knew. I was, and they, they put up with my nervousness. And I’m still in touch with them six years later. They’re thriving.
Mark: Yeah. Well, you know, the system, the process is so good. You can be learning and it’ll take hold, and it’ll, the process will still work because it’s just timeless, and the things just, just do the, as advertised.
Common Patterns Across Clients & What Leaders Miss
9:49
Mark: A couple questions for you. When you, you kind of reflect on your time at adhesives research and running all these different departments on the Leadership Team, how do you think the EOS Tools would have helped that business? I mean, that’s obviously a pretty large company. What do you think about that?
Bill: That’s a great question. We had a very large Leadership Team. It was like 18 people.
Mark: Oh geez.
Bill: So yeah. And it was actually split into two sets of meetings. We were ISO 91 certified, ISO 1345, but we didn’t have core processes. Like, there was no HR process. There was no, you know, it’s just we were good at what we did. We were very good at what we did. But I think EOS would have helped in engagement. I think things like Quarterly Conversations would have helped. LMA would have helped. I think there would have been better teamwork, even though it was pretty good for the time.
Mark: So you, you get into Vistage, obviously you have this kind of learner profile, you know, learning a lot of different things with, with Vistage. Now, were you applying with those, that learning in adhesives research? Were you kind of becoming the flavor of the month kind of guy that I used to be when I go to Vistage, I get the book, I get the tool, then I want to go experiment, and then I go to the next meeting and I want to try the next thing?
Bill: I probably wasn’t as much flavor of the month. I’m, I’m a three on quick start, not a 10, so I was a little bit slower. But yeah, I did use it. Did I used a lot of what I learned at Visage. I was running a $25 million division at the time.
Mark: Yeah. Just a great. I think Vistage is really interesting because to me you, if you ever read Jonathan Smith’s book Optimize for Growth and what he said there is that in order to scale yourself as an entrepreneur you need three things. You need a business operating system like EOS. You need a coach. And you need a peer group. And if you have those three things you can really scale yourself as, as an entrepreneur. What do you think about that?
Bill: That’s exactly what I did at inclinator Company of America. I was in Vistage. Rick Oppenheimer was my coach. I had the peer group with other like-minded CEOs. And I had Hank O’Donnell helping us with EOS implementation. So we had all three. I think that really helped us take it to the next level that business.
Bill: I’ve talked to Cliff a few months ago, and that they’re double the size, wow, they were. And I mentioned that one van and that one trailer. He said now we have 13.
Mark: 13. That, that’s a, yeah. I mean, you obviously fixed the business model, got competitive in the market, and, and there’s a compelling need for what it is that you had to offer. So makes, makes total sense.
Mark: So when you, you go to that vistage meeting, Rosie’s talking about process triage, he hands you Get A Grip, what was the experience like to convince, or maybe that the Get A Grip, the book was a compelling enough offer for your Leadership Team to jump on? So tell me about how the leadership team took that. Were they just hungry for anything? Because really what it is that an Implementer sells is a very complex thing, right. It’s total change management. You’re transforming your culture, the way you do things. And it’s not usually taken very lightly where it’s something that you do on a whim. It has that upfront buy-in that’s really necessary, and it’s a lot of hard work. So how, how did that go?
What Makes a Leadership Team Say “We’re In”
13:57
Bill: We were struggling. So our, my Leadership Team, the Leadership Team we had was looking for solutions. So they were like, yes, let’s do this. So it was just the most logical. They’re already in pain. They’re like, hey, this is the best thing we’ve seen for what we’re looking for. And they really cared about the company. It’s a smaller company of 40 people, and we had a lot of people who were there for 20, 30, 40 years. They really cared about each other. They really cared about the success of the business. So when this, when Hank came in and did the 90-minute meeting, it was an easy decision. Like I said, I called him up two days later and said, yeah, we’re in.
Mark: Yeah. And so you were already on the, on the prow. You’re already looking for that, that thing.
Mark: So tell me then, you know, you start working with, with Hank. You start implementing the tools in your business. What was the aha moment? What was the thing, the tool, the whatever Hank was teaching at the time that was sort of like all the light bulbs went off and it made an immediate impact?
Bill: Well, I remember the One Thing commitment exercise when our first annual. And I remember my One Thing was to take my foot off the gas and put the clutch in every now and then. I responded too quickly to customer needs and really didn’t take into account the needs of the team. So that was really good. So the One Thing commitment was amazing.
Bill: I think teaching us how to run really good Level 10 Meetings was huge for us. We solved so many issues. And I mentioned the one that we got really deep into, which ended up changing the business model. That one was amazing to me because everyone cared so much about getting it right that by the time we presented the board we were so well prepared. I didn’t present it myself. The team did.
Mark: Nice.
Bill: And it was, it was a hard sell. It was a hard sell because what we were proposing was not consistent with one of the board members who was family-owned half the business. He had a business that we could threaten. And so he had to take off his own business’s hat and put on the business that we were running hat. And he, he did. He agreed.
Mark: Yeah, yeah. So for you this topic has come up multiple times at our Quarterly Collaborative Exchanges where Implementers are getting together. And I’ve done a few pieces of content around an EOS run business working with a board. How was that for you? Was it pretty harmonious? How did it work?
16:47
Bill: Let’s just say the board didn’t want me spending the money on an EOS Implementer, but I did it anyway because I knew it was the right thing to do. And I had certain spending Authority, so they went with it. They actually helped a little. They helped us when we, when we did our V/TO after VB2. I presented it to them, and they had made some constructive changes, but nothing major. It’s just supporting. So they’re, yeah, well aware, supportive.
Mark: And how did you use your V/TO, how did you integrate the EOS Tools into your board meetings?
Bill: I actually, our board meetings were once a quarter, and I actually just gave them updates on where we were on the journey on the V/TO, and you know, our annual plan, our, our Rocks, where we were going. So actually I implemented in the presentation. It was called the president’s presentation for the board meeting.
Mark: Yeah. Very nice. Very nice.
Mark: So throughout all the experiences you’ve been an Implementer, what, what year did you become an Implementer?
Bill: 2018.
Mark: 2018, yep. So you’ve been at this for, for six years or so. What’s the, the one thing that you’re just like, that you see in all your clients that you’re working with? It’s a pretty common theme, and how are you solving it?
Bill: The one thing that I see that’s the most common, and it’s consistent with the book you wrote with CJ and Kelly, is the people component. When my clients take the time and really focus on getting the right people in the right seats, magic happens. Yeah. And I’ve seen it over and over and over again, including the client you, you transferred to me back in 2020. They finally got a really strong Integrator. They finally got, they moved someone into run operations, and it’s day night. All of a sudden the team is jelling, and they’re hitting their numbers, and they’re clicking as a team. They just, they’re feeding off each other. And I’ve seen that over and over and over again. When they take the time to get the right people in the right seat, it’s, it’s just, is magic.
Mark: That’s, yeah. No, I, I totally agree with that. And I think about once you get right people right seats, most companies, they’re kind of like, wow, that was really hard. We’ve finally arrived. I can go rest now. Oh, they can’t rest because I mean people, right. I mean it’s just always, always different.
Why EOS Never Gets Boring
19:25
Mark: And you know, your, your journey as an Implementer and running businesses generally, what I talk to people about, like doesn’t that get boring? Like, well, do you like football? And I’m like, yeah, I love football, you know, huge Penn State fan. And by the way, for anyone listening, when Bill said he’s in Lancaster, he means Lancaster, Pennsylvania, not California. You know, huge football fans, right. I’m like, okay. So, you know, would it be more interesting if every time the game starts the, it wouldn’t be 100 yards. It might be 80. It might be 150. Like, no, like no. We need, like the rules are the same every single game over and over again. Does it get boring? Well, no, because the players are different, the plays called are different, the conditions are different, the fans are different.
Mark: And so it becomes infinitely interesting. And it’s the same running a company, right. And especially on EOS, the rules are the same, or at least now we have rules. And actually makes it more interesting when you have a common set of rules. It’s less mayhem. It’s less chaos. And it’s just about playing the game and mastering those little, little things that are, you know, hey, this play or that play and how that all works and how the creating the right team on the field. And so your focus shifts from the mayhem to how to field a great team because the rules are generally the same. And so I, that’s the way I explain it. Like that’s the life of an Implementer. So it’s infinitely fascinating and motivating because it’s a different team, it’s a different day, it’s a different game.
Bill: Yeah. And even ones that get all the rack together, like I’ve got a few that really doing well, but you know what, business challenges are always there. Always. And EOS helps them navigate it so much more effectively.
Mark: Yeah, for sure. For sure. And you know, you think about getting the right people on the right seats and holding them there. I mean, to me, like use the football analogy, a great team can win the Super Bowl and then next year not so great. I’m a San Francisco 49ers fan. Like last year played in the Super Bowl, this year, well, they’re kind of terrible. Almost the same players.
Bill: Yeah. I’m a New York Times fan, and last year they were good was 2011.
Mark: So right, right. Then they went south, yes, and, and stayed there.
Mark: [Laughter.] Yeah, yep.
22:01
Mark: So awesome. So before we wrap up, Bill, what’s the one thing that, you know, we talked about people. Thinking about your clients, what’s the one thing that if you could have them just get it right the first time, what would that one thing be? And it could be the, the people component, but you teach a tool, you teach a concept, and maybe they don’t get it right away, but you’re like, man, if I could wave a magic wand, they would get it and do it. What would it be?
Bill: Oh, if they could learn to write SMART Rocks that are meaningful and effective of moving the business forward, starting at Focus Day, that would be wonderful. But that’s a learning curve. You know, if I had to change it, that’s, that would move them so much faster.
Mark: Why do you think people struggle with SMART Rocks? So for, for everyone listening, those are 90-day priorities. They’re specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound. What’s the mistake that they make in their first go around?
Bill: Typically not specific enough. Typically aspirational. Typically they bite off more than they really can get done. So they don’t understand the time bucket yet. And so that’s just part of the learning.
Mark: Yeah. And I coach them through that, right. And people are sort of like, it’s actually difficult to break apart where you want to go, you know, the gap between where you are and where you want to go. It’s, it’s kind of difficult to break it down to first principles and say, okay, well what’s the one thing that I could do that makes the biggest leap towards where we want to go? And in a Focus Day, they’re not exactly sure. And they’re not exactly on the same page of where it is they want to go. So they just kind of do what’s in front of them, and they sort of can’t see the forest through the trees.
Bill: That’s exactly right.
Mark: Yeah. Well, awesome, Bill. I appreciate the conversation.
Bill: You as well, Mark.
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