EOS Worldwide

EOS Worldwide is a business consulting and coaching organization headquartered at 2254 Cole Street, Suite 130, in Birmingham, Michigan. The company is the home of the Entrepreneurial Operating System, commonly shortened to EOS, a management framework designed to help leadership teams of privately held companies clarify their vision, hold one another accountable and run their businesses with more discipline. While the corporate office sits in metropolitan Detroit, the organization operates through a large international network of independent implementers, which means its work reaches entrepreneurial companies across the United States and in dozens of other countries.

Background

The Entrepreneurial Operating System was developed by Gino Wickman, who drew on years of working directly with small and mid-sized business owners before codifying the approach into a repeatable system. The framework reached a wide audience through the book Traction, which describes the six components of a healthy business and the tools used to strengthen each one. Subsequent titles in the same family, including guides written for leadership teams, sales organizations and company visionaries, expanded on individual pieces of the model. EOS Worldwide was formed to certify and support the practitioners who deliver the system, and it has grown into a community of thousands of implementers who teach, facilitate and coach leadership teams through the process.

The EOS Model

At the center of the method is the idea that most business frustrations trace back to weaknesses in six areas. The model addresses each one in sequence:

• Vision: getting everyone in the organization aligned around where the company is going and how it plans to get there.
• People: surrounding leadership with the right individuals in the right seats, evaluated against core values and role expectations.
• Data: managing the business with a small set of objective numbers rather than opinion or emotion.
• Issues: building the habit of identifying problems openly and resolving them for good instead of letting them resurface.
• Process: documenting and following the handful of core processes that define how the company operates.
• Traction: instilling accountability and discipline so the vision actually gets executed.

Each component has practical tools attached to it. The Vision/Traction Organizer, usually called the V/TO, condenses long term vision and near term plans onto two pages. The Accountability Chart replaces a conventional organizational chart by defining functions and responsibilities before names are assigned. Quarterly priorities, known as Rocks, give teams a limited number of goals for a 90 day period. A weekly Scorecard tracks leading indicators, and the Level 10 Meeting provides a fixed agenda for the leadership team's weekly gathering. Issue solving follows a structured method of identifying, discussing and solving, which teams refer to by its initials.

How Implementation Works

Companies typically engage an EOS Implementer, an experienced business leader who has been trained and certified to teach the system. Implementers progress through levels of certification as they accumulate sessions and client results, and many come from backgrounds as former owners, executives or entrepreneurs themselves. Because implementers run independent practices, clients are matched with someone based on geography, industry experience and personal fit.

The engagement usually begins with a short introductory meeting that explains the tools and lets a leadership team decide whether the approach suits them. From there, most teams complete a Focus Day, which introduces the Accountability Chart, Rocks, the Scorecard and the meeting structure. Two Vision Building days follow, during which the team answers a series of questions about core values, core focus, long range targets, marketing strategy and the three year picture of the business. After that, the rhythm shifts to quarterly sessions, where the team reviews the previous 90 days, resolves issues and sets new Rocks, along with an annual planning session that covers two days. Full implementation generally takes about two years, after which many teams continue to run the system on their own with periodic check ins.

Self-Implementation and Supporting Resources

Not every company works with a facilitator. EOS Worldwide also supports self-implementers through free downloadable tools, books, online training and software built to house the V/TO, Rocks, Scorecard and meeting agendas in one place. A resource library, webinars, podcasts and blog content cover topics such as delegating responsibility, running effective meetings, defining core values and diagnosing why a leadership team is stuck. These materials are available regardless of whether a company has engaged an implementer, and many businesses start with the book before deciding to bring in outside help.

Who the System Is Built For

EOS is aimed primarily at entrepreneurial companies with roughly ten to two hundred fifty employees, generally privately held and led by an owner or small leadership team. The system is industry agnostic and has been used by manufacturers, professional services firms, construction companies, technology startups, medical practices, nonprofits and family businesses. It tends to appeal to organizations that have grown past the point where informal communication and instinct are enough, but that do not want the complexity of a large corporate planning apparatus. Leadership teams that are open, honest and willing to be held accountable generally get the most out of the process, since the tools depend on candid discussion.

Visiting and Contact Information

The Birmingham office is located on Cole Street, in a walkable downtown district in Oakland County, north of Detroit. The property includes a wheelchair accessible entrance and a wheelchair accessible parking lot. Because most client work takes place at the client's own offices or in virtual sessions led by individual implementers, prospective clients typically make contact by phone rather than by visiting in person.

The main phone number is +1 877-367-1877. Business owners exploring the system for the first time often begin by requesting an introductory meeting, which is usually offered at no cost and carries no obligation to continue.