MAKING YOUR VISION A REALITY – THOUGHT LEADERSHIP BROUGHT TO YOU BY EOS
In this new series, PACT has partnered with Kevin Michals, an EOS coach, to explore how adopting the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is transforming their operations. This collaboration aims to dive deep into the practical applications of EOS at PACT and provide insights on how organizations can enhance their own operations through the EOS lens. Join us as we uncover the strategic benefits and operational improvements that EOS brings to PACT and how these principles can be adapted to other environments.
How PACT is utilizing the thought leadership of EOS
It’s been six months since I joined PACT as Vice President, where I oversee operations, support business development, and collaborate with our incredible community. After admiring PACT President & CEO Dean Miller’s visionary leadership for over a decade at a distance, I’m excited to be a part of PACT and help shape the next chapter while honoring our legacy.
To prepare for this role, I read Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters, which dives into the Visionary–Integrator partnership—a core concept of their methodology, the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). Within my first month at PACT, I met Kevin Michals, an EOS coach who helps leaders solve root problems, gain traction, and drive growth through this proven methodology. At the same time, Dean was hearing from our partners at TECNA that other membership organizations were applying the EOS method successfully. With modernization, next gen business models, and new ways to engage all on the horizon for PACT, we took it as a sign and have since leaned in.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll hear from Kevin directly about how EOS works, how it’s being applied at PACT and insights you may apply to your own work. Our hope is that these insights can benefit you, our valued community of innovators, just as much as they benefit us as we continue to serve. Stay tuned!
– Jen Devor, VP of Business Development & Operations
HOW TO MAKE YOUR VISION A REALITY
Insights from Kevin Michals, EOS Coach
Visionaries notoriously live in the future. They dream up what’s possible for their organizations and launch their company forward with their innovative thinking. But these lofty aspirations can seem like hallucinations to their people without the proper roadmap to guide them. If you’re a Visionary, learning how to make your vision a reality involves three simple steps.
1. WRITE IT DOWN
When you handwrite something, you use multiple parts of your brain. That hardwiring actually increases your chances of achieving it. For years, experts have extolled the virtues of writing (yes, actually writing) down your goals. I’ve seen many Visionaries realize how vague their goal was by trying to get the words on paper.
With EOS®, you can do this more easily within the Vision/Traction Organizer® (V/TO). By answering the eight questions on the V/TO®, you get your vision onto paper. Then you can refine your vision by collaborating with your leadership team so they all see the same thing, thus creating buy-in.
2. SHARE YOUR VISION
Another piece of the puzzle is a little good old-fashioned peer pressure. When you share your vision with others, it creates a sense of accountability to do what you say. EOS bakes accountability into its framework.
Answering the questions on the V/TO with your leadership team helps you crystallize your vision and plan out how you will achieve it. But you don’t want to share all your hard work with just your leadership team.
Eventually, you’ll want the entire company to see and understand your vision. You can do this by holding a State of the Company address where everyone hears the same message at the same time. These State of the Company sessions get everyone rowing in the same direction. You can also ensure your vision gets shared by having your leadership team members filter the message down through their departments.
This way, the entire organization holds you accountable to do what you said you would. When you share your vision and how you personally plan to achieve it, your actions need to be consistent with the message you’ve sent.
3. REVIEW PULSE
An important part of this process is regularly reviewing your vision with your accountability partners. You can’t go through this exercise and share it just once, expecting things to happen. The Meeting Pulse® keeps everyone on the same page and on track. Even disciplined people fall off the path or get distracted. From an EOS standpoint, we review To-Dos and Rocks weekly during Level 10 Meetings™. Plus, leaders hold each other accountable during quarterly meetings and as part of Quarterly Conversations™ with their direct reports. And some people may even need more touchpoints to stay focused.
The point of The Meeting Pulse is to keep the circles connected instead of smothering or becoming disconnected from one another. So The Meeting Pulse differs for everyone and may change as goals progress. Those interactions force you to keep moving the needle forward from positive peer pressure.
SIMPLE, NOT EASY
So many visions go unrealized because leaders don’t take these three steps to accomplish them. While the formula is simple, many people don’t do it or don’t do it all the way. They don’t write down their vision. It just stays in their head, which also means it may not be clear either. Or they’re afraid to share it. Because putting things out for others to ask questions or challenge creates a level of vulnerability that makes them uncomfortable. They realize that sharing it with others means they’re on the hook (which is the point!).
Or they share their vision but only share it once. In this case, they don’t have an accountability partner to help them stay on track, checking back with them on progress.
Remember, when you have a great vision, don’t just think it; ink it!
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