FAQ’s Of An EOS Client: Part 1

by Oct 8, 2021

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FAQ’s Of An EOS Client: Part 1

 

By Marshall Krupp, Professional EOS Implementer

In collaboration with Ashley Berecz, Executive Assistant

 

After 45-year career as an entrepreneur, a strategic advisor, a business consultant, and a coach, mentor and guide to government, not-for-profit and private organizations and businesses, Marshall Krupp, Professional EOS® Implement with EOS® Worldwide shares his open and honest thoughts on the EOS® Model, Process and Toolbox created by Gino Wickman and written about in his book “Traction”.  Marshall does not hold back.  He shares his answers to the tough questions that others may be asked and are not prepared to say.

 

Question: What normally gets in the way of an EOS® client being successful?

 

I have observed that many EOS® clients in the early days of EOS® fail to do the hard pen to paper work that enables them to become masters at the EOS® Model, Process and Toolbox.  Those that work hard and gain the discipline find that as they become masters at EOS®, the process becomes the “norm” of the operation of the business.  The result is greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Another observation is that new EOS® clients fail to get out-of-the-box they have created for themselves over the years. They work too hard to make EOS® more complicated than it really is and attempt to tweak it to fit their own self-limiting beliefs.

For hundreds, maybe thousands of years there has been the concept of business. Business refers to the organized efforts and activities of individuals to produce and sell goods and services for profit.  It is about executing the ABC’s that lead to sale and profitability.  Many businesses are “accidently” successful.  They have a service or a product that simply fits the time and through supply and demand they reap the benefits of the sale; however, EOS® businesses run on a system. They are “strategically” successful, and they do this by becoming masters in the EOS® Model, Process and Toolbox.  They practice, practice, practice, and in the end the result is not accidental success, but rather strategic success.

 

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
– Simon Sinek

 

Question: What’s the difference between a consultant, coach, and an EOS® Implementer?

 

The lines between a coach and consultant can get blurred, creating a situation that is not effective at providing what the client actually needs or expects.

A “coach” helps a team see what they themselves cannot, see by “asking questions” others are afraid to ask.  The coach exposes the team to learn new ways of thinking.  In simple terms, they bring a different approach or methodology. When teams are stuck and can’t see why they are stuck, the coach is focused on asking the tough questions that others won’t.  A coach doesn’t do the actual work to change an outcome.  They instead help you see how the current thinking, approach or methodology is not working, so that the team can adjust and pivot to get the results they are looking for. Since about 85 percent of most decisions and solutions to challenges and issues are in a person’s sub-conscious mind, a coach helps an entrepreneur, executive or leadership team see the patterns that are not working by asking the right questions.

A “consultant” helps a team get the results they are looking for by actually “doing the work” separate or in conjunction with the team to get the changes and/or outcomes that are desired. The consultant investigates what the team is doing, identifies new actions, and then develops a new plan or outcome. They do the work the team might do themselves if they had the resources, skills and/or talent. Most consultants have an expertise that may be lacking in the leadership team. They support a project or initiative with that specific expertise.  When the project is done, they move onto the next company or project. Most consultants don’t deal with the behaviors needing to change people’s thinking.  Instead, they roll up their sleeves and do what’s needed to get an outcome and a result.

An EOS® Implementer is foremost a teacher and facilitator for their clients to learn new tools, techniques and the principles of the EOS® Model, Process and Toolbox.  They focus on the behaviors, thinking and actions of the leadership team in such a way that they replace band aides with sutures to solve problems.  By offering these teachings, the EOS® Implementer’s intention is to work themselves out of a job by developing the mastery in their clients.  A great EOS® Implementer is constantly reinforcing the concepts and tools of EOS®, repeating over and over what needs to be learned.  Through a consistent training program developed by EOS® and the process that all Implementers use, the client has a greater opportunity to become masters at the EOS® system. Most EOS® Implementer’s have experienced what it is like to operate a business through their own self-experiences.  They are a coach, a consultant, a mentor, an advisor, a flag-waver, a confidant, a guide, a teacher, and an instructor.  They don’t sit on the sidelines; they are part of the experience of the EOS® mastery.  And more importantly, they know when and how to change their approach so that the client gains the greatest value.

 

Question: Why should I hire an EOS® Implementer over self-implementing?

 

If you have the skills and resources, tools and techniques, you know how to teach the EOS® Model and Process, and you can step out of the role that you have in the company by being a 100% unbiased third party, you DON’T need a Professional EOS® Implementer. In 80% of the cases where a company has self-implemented, I have observed that they have not used the EOS® Model and Process effectively and correctively.  They have allowed themselves to stay inside the box they created prior to them implement EOS®.

EOS® with an EOS® Implementer is like driving a race car.  When you are in the grandstands you can only speculate what it is like driving the race car around the track.  However, when you are in the driver’s seat behind the wheel with an EOS® Implementer at your side, there is no speculation… there is simply the real experience of racing around the curves and the straightaways.

 

 

Question: As an Implementer is it to your advantage to seek a long-term relationship with a client?

 

No! As an EOS® Implementer, my responsibilities are to elevate the leadership team to the highest level of mastery of the EOS® Model and Process so that I can get out of the way and let the leadership team build and grow the company.  Any long term engagement simply gets in the way of empowering and elevating the leadership team.  While it is of value for an EOS® Implementer to stay connected with a client, there is actually a detriment of the EOS® Implementer becoming too entrenched in the company.  One of the Five Leadership Abilities in EOS® is to “delegate and elevate” and turn ownership over to another.  If I can coach a leadership team to a level of mastery in the EOS® Model, Process and Toolbox, it is my responsibility to delegate the execution role of EOS® to the members of that leadership team, elevate them to success, and let them run with building and growing the company.

 

Question: Do you really guarantee your services?

 

Yes!  I believe that if a coach or consultant is unwilling or unable to stand behind and guarantee their services then they must have a poor perspective of the value that they can truly bring.  In essence and in the humblest way, if you believe in yourself, then anything is possible.  If I am to ask my clients to do this in their careers and their jobs, I must model what this looks like.  If I believe that the EOS® Model and Process is of value to my clients, then I have a responsibility to back it up.  I do that with two guarantees, one being the EOS organizational guarantee and then my own personal guarantee.

To support this, every EOS® Session is rated on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being excellence.

 

Question: Is the process of becoming a master in EOS® going to overshadow our day-to-day business?

 

Honestly, EOS® is another business activity that is added to your plate.  In addition to the day-to-day routine of “working in” the business, EOS® is a training and coaching process that will need to be added into the daily routine.  It enables you to “work on” the business.  It won’t overshadow that routine and over time it will reinforce a more effective and efficient operation.  Through time management, delegation, having the right people in the right seats, simplicity, better predictions, and more effective systems and structures, most EOS® companies find that EOS® is not a burden, but a savior.

Mastering EOS® is about three day-long EOS® Sessions in the first 90-days.  Then there is one day-long EOS® Session every quarter thereafter and then a two-day day-long EOS® Session annually.  On a weekly basis there is a Level 10 Leadership Team meeting once a week that consists of 90-minutes starting on time and ending on time.  These meetings are where the Leadership Team tracks its successes and addresses the issues, challenges and problems in the company, coming up with once-and-for-all solutions.

Other than that, EOS® is simply the execution and practicing of the EOS® Model and Tools in the Toolbox in the normal course of business. EOS® will not be a burden. it will actually be an advantage that you have over your competition.  Most EOS® run companies start to feel the value and ease of the EOS® system in 90-days… and it shows up in the efficiency of the day-to-day operations of the company.

I hope I have been able to share some light on some of the questions you may have about EOS®. If not, we are always happy to meet with anyone. If you would like to continue this discussion further, please contact us at ashley.berecz@peerexecutiveboards.com or go to our website www.peerexecutiveboards.com and contact us virtually. We will be happy to get back to you!

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FAQ’s of an EOS Client: Part 2 will soon be posted.  Stay tuned for more transparency from me as I share my experiences and observations of the EOS® Model, Process and Toolbox.  It is hoped that the words I share create greater interest in EOS® and open the door to more questions what I can share my thoughts around.

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EOS®, the Entrepreneurial Operating System® takes entrepreneur businesses on a journey of mastery of the EOS tools which enables businesses to elevate their leadership teams to make better decisions, maintain a level of accountability, at attain greater success more simplistically.  The components of EOS® are Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction, which when used effectively attains a healthier organization with greater success.  Marshall Krupp is a recognized Professional EOS® Implementer serving clients through the nation.  He is also a national speaker, a past award-winning Vistage Worldwide Chair, and a past career of providing crises management strategic advisors service to businesses, governmental agencies and not-for-profit organizations.   Review more at www.peerexecutiveboards.com.

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