Put the “Right People in the Right Seats”

by Jim Brewer

The EOS® Entrepreneurial Operating System is the framework we use as EOS® Implementors to help our clients address all aspects of their enterprise. Our clients make their vision visible; track and act on critical data on a daily/weekly/quarterly basis; ensure certain important processes are followed by all; identify and solve critical issues; learn to have powerful meetings that hold everyone in the organization accountable. Yet nothing has more impact than getting the right people in the right seats.

It starts with the right people. As Gino Wickman, the founder of EOS and the author of Traction; Get a Grip on Your Business says in the book, “The right people are the ones who share your company’s core values. They fit and thrive in your culture. They are people you enjoy being around and who make your organization a better place to be.” To find those people you must acknowledge your core values and behaviors. Look around. What are the beliefs and behaviors that you see that inspire you? Those are the right people. Right people is binary. They are, or they aren’t, a fit for your company and your culture.

Right seat is trickier. Again, what our clients find so powerful in the EOS® methodology there is a way to make that difficult decision easier. For right seats, it is GWC™. Do they “get” it? Do they “want” it” Do they have the “capacity” to do it?

You know when someone “gets” it. They embody the role, know what it should be, and you can see them there. Do they “want” it? You don’t know; they do. It has to be their choice to pursue the role or not. And it is not enough to want the role, they must want to do everything necessary to perform in the role.

Do they have the “capacity” for the seat? In Traction, capacity is defined as “having the resources as well as the mental, physical, and emotional capacity to do a job well.” Some of this may be determined by their experience in similar roles and in an interview. But the other aspects are difficult to determine.

There are great tools that can help. For example, we often use Predictive Index, a behavior assessment tool. We use PI in our CEO Peer Boards and in many of our client engagements. In a short 10-minute assessment, the PI returns results that measure the four core drivers that predict workplace and personal behaviors and motivators. This is science, not a Ouija board session. The assessment tool can be used legally as a hiring practice. Not only will PI tell you about the person and their fit for the position, it will give you indications how members of the team will work together.

If you have issues putting the right people in the right seats, let’s schedule a 20-minute no obligation call to discuss your situation. We will do a free PI for the most important person in this process. You.

Maybe you will find you are a candidate for our By-Invitation-Only CEO SEAL team, or you may want a framework to make running your business more profitable, just downright easier and more fun, or maybe you just want to talk about that issue bugging you and would like some free advice… Great leaders take action to make change happen, manage conflict, and start working with themselves.

If you like this, make it a favorite and share it on your feed below.