This month marks my first year as a Professional EOS Implementer. Such a milestone led me to revisit the last year and my journey to get here.
Whilst you could say it started back in September 1996 when I arrived in Whistler, Canada, and met my good friend who eventually became my business partner, Tim Fussell; for me it began in earnest in early 2013. The business that Tim & I had built over the last 11 years was in a strong position, profitability was good, we had money in the bank and we were engaged in a joint venture that was set to expand our impact across a greater market.
Unfortunately, a mutual friend was going through a very difficult and dark time that lead Tim to reconsider his personal involvement in imei. There is significantly more to that part of the story but as it is not mine to tell, I shall simply ask you to ask the person next to you – Are you ok?
We faced the Founders dilemma of recognising what got us to where we were may not be what we need to get us to where we wanted to be. Do we keep going along as we are hoping something different will happen or do we allow someone else to take the reins and hope they can deliver?
We went with making a change. As a result. by mid-2013, we had found a new CEO (those of you who know this story will know who I am referring to but for those of you who don’t, let’s call him Steve) and Tim & I both stepped back to allow Steve the space to take the business to the next level. Based on his International MBA and extensive experience managing small to large business, we felt the business was in great hands. His reputation was first rate and we had very high hopes.
Things, however, did not go as we had envisioned. In hindsight, we had an issue with aligning what makes a great person at imei with what we thought we needed it to be, so we could “grow up” as a company. This misalignment resulted in the business going through significant change generating 80% staff turnover in areas of our business, negatively impacting our clients, partners and suppliers.
Slowly, it became clear our culture was crumbling before our eyes and with it the business. We generated significant losses and burnt through $2M in reserves forcing us to go cap in hand to our fellow shareholders for loans to fund the operations of the business.
2 years on and the business was most definitely a shadow of its former self. In July 2015, Tim resumed the position of CEO and I took on the Managing Director’s seat and we set about rebuilding.
One of the first things we did was to reconnect with Daniel Davis who we had worked with in the past. We set about rejuvenating the business, focussing on getting the structure right so we could allow our team to stabilise and rekindle the culture that was (and still is) so important to us. Soon afterwards, Daniel introduced us to the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), through the book “Traction” by Gino Wickman. It was the game changer.
I read the book cover-to-cover nonstop. The concepts presented in EOS seemed like spot-on solutions to the adversities that our business was facing then. EOS oriented us with a set of tools that did not only simplify the way we were operating, but also helped us to re-establish the path we needed to take to realise our corporate vision.
Over the next 2 years, we restored the company. Even though our revenues stabilised, we were able to improve our bottom line by a $1M a year, which meant returning to profitability and viability. Within 24 months, we had turned the business on its head. Our team clearly understood where we were going, how we were going to get there and how they were contributing to making that happen. As a result, employee engagement, client satisfaction and profitability all increased significantly.
After much contemplation, I realised that I loved the tools and experience of implementing EOS. So much so, that I set about effectively making myself redundant. Key members of the Leadership team had really embraced our new way of operating and as a result were growing as leaders and contributors to our success.
In July 2017, I formally stepped out of the day to day operations of imei. Kieran Kirkpatrick to replaced me as General Manager allowing his continued growth within the business. The combination of his experience, passion for the business and the tools at his disposal meant that I had great confidence that Kieran would complement Tim. This has certainly proven to be the case.
I was in a position where I felt like a door had been opened for me and that I needed to share what I now knew with as many other business owners as I could.
Comfortable that imei was truly in good hands, I became an EOS Implementer which has seen me work with multiple businesses over the last 12 months, all of whom are led by people like myself – with a yearning to do better, those who can see where their business is at and aren’t prepared to settle for the status quo.
Making the transition has not been without its challenges. Telling people that I am not doing the same thing I have for the last 16 years has taken a while to sink in. What I do know though, is that working as an EOS Implementer allows me to tap into my passion for helping people and improving lives. Every time I finish a day with the leadership team of a client, I know that I have impacted not only the lives of those people but also their teams, their families, and their team’s families.
Small to Medium business and the people behind them are critical components of the economy and the broader community. As the largest body of employers in the country, SME’s can shift the conversations that happen around the dinner tables and weekend bbq’s from talking about job dissatisfaction and confusion to engagement, satisfaction, clarity on contribution and, dare I say, enjoyment. The ripple effects of this positive approach have a magnifying affect and do result in better lives.
The last 12 months may have been 20 years in the making, but I can’t wait for the next 12 to see how many other entrepreneurs can simplify, clarify and realise their vision so they too can get what they want from their businesses.