Latest / Integrity at Scale™ / The Owner’s Room: Processing What Became Clear After the Conference
Transcript
- All right, folks. Let's do it. My name is Dr. Tara Vossenkemper, and you are listening to the Culture Focus Practice podcast. Thank you, of course, for being here with me. Look, I am post-EOS conference. I'm about, I don't know, a week and a half out, and that's gonna be the focus for today. This podcast episode, though, is not going to be a recap of the conference because that'd be fucking weird. It's basically me just processing through and sitting in the clarity of when everything kind of clicked into place. You all know I've been using EOS for a while. Well, if you're a listener you know, and if you're new, now you know I've been using EOS for a while, years, in fact. And it's incredible. I love EOS, period. I think it's incredible. But also something has been kind of, missing lately. There's just been something that hasn't been working. We've been sort of hitting the ceiling. That is what I'm talking about when I say things finally clicked into place. What I mean to say is that I see why we've been hitting the ceiling. There's something that's been off, and not only do I see it now, but I have the language and structure for it. So moving forward looks very different than what it felt like even a month ago. Like I said, this episode was me processing that experience and the clarity that came with it. I'm not really rushing to fix any... I mean, I'm always in a rush, but I don't think that some things are fixable right away. And I'm also not going to pretend that the experience, and the clarity doesn't change how we move forward and what I do next. So welcome. If you are new to the podcast, The Owner's Room episodes are basically me asking myself a series of questions related to the topic of the episode and then processing out loud. So I have chosen the questions, but I don't think in advance about, like, this sort of stuff. I just like to... I'm processing, you know, so I'm kind of in real time answering the question. So there's six prompts. I'm not doing a scenario today 'cause it doesn't feel like it fits, and I don't want to. So let's 📍 go. Okay, question number one, what does it feel like when everything suddenly makes sense and nothing has changed yet? I mean, if you're any sort of, entrepreneur or visionary type, it's... Well, one, the insight, like everything suddenly making sense feels God, incredible. Oh, it's just, uh, relief, just intense relief. Like, thank God that's what has been happening, or that's what I've been missing. The nothing has changed yet. I'm very fucking impatient. That's what I mean by any other visionary or entrepreneur type. I think that impulsivity and impatience are two things that run deep in this crowd. A lot of people will relate to that. So I'm impatient. I see what needs to be done, and it's always the case with visionaries. We're gonna see in the distance, we see something that will come to fruition or will come to pass, but we're not there yet. So the lag time between what I see and how I know this will look or how I'm thinking this will look or this vision in the future is very different from where we are right now. And frankly, I fucking hate the middle ground, like the process of the lag time. I can see it. Why can't it just happen? You know as well as I do that's not how it works. I feel impatient. That's the what does it feel like when everything suddenly makes sense, relieving, and the nothing has changed yet. Impatient. Not hopeless, and not despairing, and not futility. It doesn't feel futile, you know? It just feels like I know what will happen, so why can't we just be there now? That's another way of saying impatience. So that's an easy question. I gave myself a softball, a lobbed one to myself to start. An alley-oop, if we're going with the basketball metaphor. Or analogy. I never know the difference. 📍 Okay. Question number two: What am I seeing now that I couldn't see before, and what feels newly obvious now that I can see it this way? Whoa, okay. I think it's less about seeing it and more about... there's, like, added weight to it. So I had been sort of thinking about the concept of accountability and responsibility and, leadership especially, holding others accountable and being responsible if they have any sort of LMA within their seat, if they have people that are reporting to them. I think there's something about ownership of the outcome or metrics for the seats reporting to them. That wasn't really taking place. And so it's slightly less, not drastically less, but slightly less that I'm seeing it now and I couldn't see before. It's more like- I imagine like when a baby is born, the first few weeks of the baby's life, like their vision is just sort of like large, blurry objects with any level of distance, it's just kinda blurry. And then as they age and develop it just comes into sharper focus, and they can now make sense of what they're seeing or their brain can kinda make sense of like lines and like crisper images. That's what it feels like. It's if I was like a newborn or something, I'm getting the sense of like, "Wait, hang on a second. Like this big shape means this, and I'm comfortable over here, and I don't know what that is over there." It seems like the seeing now piece is sharper in focus, specifically the responsibility piece. So if my marketing strategist, for example, if I say to him, "You know, you're responsible for client acquisition," just period. So the metric we are primarily looking at is gonna be inquiries. How many people are actually reaching out to us? From there, of course, conversion would live with my client care coordinator. That means that on a weekly basis when my marketing strategist is reporting this at our L10 meetings, 'cause that seat is on the leadership team, it means that he's responsible for that fucking number. Like that's what it means. It means that he says, "This number's down. Here's why I think it is. Here's what I think we should do. I've already implemented this thing. I'll report back with more information as soon as I have it," or, "I expect to see a difference in this number next week." That's ownership. I feel like I'm harping on this because I think it's just so profoundly different and better than how we were operating with reporting on our metrics, and if I'm comparing how I'm seeing it now and like what became more clear with what it was prior. Before it was just reporting. Just like saying, "Okay, it's this number," and then we're like collectively talking about it versus now it's leadership team bringing an issue up from a number and saying what they have already planned on doing about it. They're sort of like diagnosing and like attempting to solve the problem before they even get to L10. It sounds so obvious. Like I say it and I'm like, "God, Tara, like that's so fucking obvious." It's not like it's new. This is clearly written in Traction. But I think once we started using EOS. And once we started actively engaging in all of the processes and the using the tools, et cetera, operating on EOS, it's kinda like it just got dulled over time. You know what I mean? Anyway, that's how it felt. Another thing that I couldn't see before that I'm seeing now is that we're missing another seat on our leadership team. In Traction, Gino writes about just basically the accountability chart. There's sales and marketing, there's operations, there's finance/HR, finance and admin or something like that. We haven't put that seat on our chart. So what's been happening is that finance and admin things have sort of been, like, loosely falling with me as visionary. And the reality is I've been operating in two seats, and my integrator has too. She's been operating in two separate seats, which isn't outside the realm of, possible. People do this sometimes. But what it means is if I'm assessing myself as right person, right seat in the director of finance seat, I'm failing. Like, I'm terrible at this. I do it. I do most of the things, and I get them done. They might take me forever and I hate them. But my point is I didn't even really see before, like, we're missing a full ass seat. And when we first started the accountability chart, like way back whenever we're doing this initially it was like the finance admin seat was kind of an afterthought. Like, we broke it up and put pieces of it with different seats. So as visionary I would have some, maybe my integrator would have some responsibilities, but ultimately it just needs to be a standalone seat, and that became really, ooh, obvious after the conference. I also actually did a visionary master class, which was incredible. And shout out to Sue Hocks. She's a freaking badass. If you haven't ever read anything about her or been exposed to her, you should look her up. She's incredible. Oh, final thing. What I'm seeing now that I couldn't see before, and then I'm promise I'm gonna move on. Final thing with this question is that I am seeing that kinda comparable to the accountability chart needing to be upgraded, Part of why we haven't been growing and why we've been hitting the ceiling is that we haven't had the right structure in place. I think that not only means missing some key seats, like the marketing strategist is a very recent addition, and like the director of finance/admin, that's a seat that just hasn't lived on our accountability chart. I think the visionary and integrator seats also need to be basically upleveled, like upgraded, and ultimately my integrator, I want her to be doing, not more in the sense of like be busier, but more ownership, more like oversight and ownership. That's what I'm wanting for her, and I'm wanting myself to step back more. So the second part of the question, you know, what is what feels newly obvious now that I can see it this way, I think it all seems obvious now where it's like, well, fuck, of course we've been hitting the ceiling. We haven't been operating a full accountability chart. One, we haven't had a full accountability chart. It hasn't been fully built out and then two, we've all been sort of like underperforming as a result of the constraints that we have like self-imposed. I say we, I should just say I, that I've self-imposed or I'm thinking like, "Is it this way? Is it this way?" And then that like restriction almost trickles down and then impacts the people it does. It impacts the people underneath me, primarily my integrator, which then she's kind of fucked. She can't be in the seat that she fully needs to be, and she can't do the job that she needs to. Honestly, there's a lot more I could say, but I am going to move on because I don't wanna keep getting stuck in the weeds with you. 📍 Okay, question three: Where do I feel momentum building now that things make more sense? I love this question. I also wonder if that feeling is sort of like visionary or entrepreneurial in nature, where you have a steady pressure that builds up and then it needs a release in some way. I constantly cycle through that in my life. So where do I feel momentum building now that things make more sense? I hate to say everywhere, but everywhere. It can't not be everywhere, so really everywhere. If we are increasing our client acquisition and if we are being more intentional about the seats that are on the accountability chart in terms of leadership seats in particular, and if we are stepping more fully into ownership of metrics and outcomes, then I think that impacts every other single piece of the organization. Not only the people that are working, but also our key metrics for the organization, our scorecard at a leadership level. I think it impacts the amount of shit that gets done. Like, if we're, like, holding our feet more to the fire, if we're being more in tune with getting enough rocks done, for example, then that's gonna steadily move us in the direction that we wanna move into. If I had to say an area where momentum is building the fastest, for me, that feels like leadership and the accountability chart. I definitely feel a urgency, sure, but also, like, a sense of excitement. It's more like excited urgency, like anticipation, you know? Not like frantic, anxious urgency, which I'm also have that too sometimes. This is more like, hell yes. I see it. Like, come on, let's go. Let's move over there. That's what it feels like. I also... Holy shit, I forgot to say this. Let me just bounce back. I do have to say two more things that I see that I just couldn't see before. Rocks. Holy shit, rocks and vision. Our vision is not big enough. That's one thing that I realized from this, is that I think Sue said in the master class actually you should be, like, 25% certain that you'll achieve your vision. I'm way more than 25% certain. So what that tells me is that my vision is not big enough. That was really enlightening. That was really eye-opening. And for the three-year picture, it's about 60% certain. And then for your one-year plan and your rocks, you of course should be about 80% plus certain that you'll achieve your goals and rocks. And by goals, I mean one-year plan. So that was news to me. The percentage of certainty really... Like, I felt like I'd been metaphorically slapped, you know, like a cartoon, like pshew, where it just dawned on me, like, oh my God, we're not doing this big enough. Other thing with rocks then, basically, the visionary shouldn't have any, which is really relieving 'cause I hate them and I suck at getting them done. That's a lie. I get them done, but I don't like them. I don't do them very well. An integrator should only have about one because they should really be, like, coordinating all of the efforts of everybody else. And then your leadership team members should all have three to seven. We know this. This is in traction. We have not been operating this way because we historically were not getting rocks done. And now I can look back and say, well, yeah, this is why, duh, blah, blah, blah. You know, here's all my rationale or here's now my understanding of why. But regardless, moving forward, that's a huge fucking difference. And this is exactly what they talk about in traction is the laser focus and the ability to really make movement from that point. 📍 Okay, Let's move to question four. Where do I already know I don't belong anymore? Oh, I think I said this earlier, but that newly defined seat, the director of finance and admin, guess who's in it? Yours truly. I am. I should not be. I'm not the right person for that seat. So I don't belong there. This is another piece. I have been keeping high-level finances as a part of the visionary seat. And so I think this actually ties in with the director of finances seat that theoretically the director of finances would be the person slash admin who's pulling reports and sharing like revenue data and, you know, all of the stuff that needs to be done, budgeting, forecasting, et cetera. So that person would be sharing P&Ls with the integrator. And then the integrator would use that information to inform decisions around maybe marketing budgets or timing of bringing clinicians on, for example, or hiring office support, who knows, whatever. All those decisions about the timing of things and having information like the P&L, a profit and loss statement, all of that is integrator land. And that has been visionary for a long time. That is for a lot of reasons. One is that I think I've said this on the podcast before. I, oddly enough, I don't have any shame saying this out loud, but I have like shame in finances. There's just something that's always interwoven with me. So any move that's like showing somebody else or inviting them into finances is really unsettling. Side note, if anybody has any recommendations on like deep dive working through that, I would gladly take them. And please don't talk to me about money mindset. That's not, just don't. That's not what this is, but I appreciate your thought. So let me keep going. My other thing would be I've been in the director of finance and admin seat on accident 'cause I didn't know it was a seat, and I haven't stayed up on the shit that needs to get done. So then nothing is going to Taylor, my integrator, when she needs it. So I already know I don't belong anywhere here. In one of the conference talks, it was actually a financial one. it was incredibly helpful in clarifying, like, a financial leader at the practice, at a group, at a business. At some point it sort of alluded to I might not understand the P&Ls or reports. It's so much less understanding what I'm looking at and so much more staying on top of getting shit done. Like, I don't do bookkeeping, but if I have to send statements to my bookkeeper, they're not gonna get done in time. I'm just gonna be slow on the draw. Like, that's really what it comes down to because it feels like I'm pulling my fucking nails out. It's so simple. I hate doing it. I hate the execution, the maintenance, the consistency. Ugh, it's awful. I'd rather... Yeah. Anyway, so I don't belong there. That's the long and short of all of this is I don't belong in any sort of, like, finance or admin seat. I have been there. And also, it's been messy because I've been owning stuff as visionary that I shouldn't be, but nobody's in the seat to cleanly pass things over to my integrator. So it's a little bit of a mess, but I definitely don't belong there. I'm gonna keep going. 📍 Two more questions. Question number five: Where am I tempted to move fast just because I finally can see it clearly? This is a really good question. I don't actually know. I think I'm always tempted to move fast. But I know that I can't move fast. Like, there's constraints in the system. So it kind of feels like less what I want to do and less about how quickly I want to move and more like I just immediately have to settle into, okay, what's possible? Like, what's the next thing we do? The next thing we do is get the right people in the right seats. The next thing we do is identify currently who's in the seat and if there's anybody who could fill it. The next thing we do is continue to track m- you know, it sort of just feels like the next thing that can be done. And I think if you are in business or you own a group practice or you're in any sort of like allied health field or just in general owning a business or working in leadership at a business, it has to be like scaffolded. There are some things that have to get done before others. And so regardless of how fast I might want to move, like I am limited by not only my integrator, thank God, but also just the constraints of the system, period. So if there's not funds to bring a director of finance and admin on, that limits the system. I can't bring somebody in from the outside. Can we promote from within? That might look a little bit different. It looks a little bit different in terms of like, okay, well, how much new money is going out then? Or what would a raise look like? What's possible? And to what extent emotionally am I comfortable handing over certain pieces of the director and finance job to somebody who's already been in the system? I could keep going down that rabbit hole, but I 📍 won't. Let's do the last question. Question number six. What does this clarity make possible that didn't feel possible before? Oh stepping back. I think that this is probably the most confident I have felt about my own desire to become a visionary consultant to my group. Like I think more and more that it's actually possible And it didn't feel like a pipe dream before, but I felt unclear like, fuck how? Like what are we missing? How are we gonna do this? How can I move myself out of things? I could pass off payroll. I could do this. Now I feel like, oh damn, like I just get that seat filled, get that seat filled, do less here. Okay, like now we're literally off to the races. So that's what feels possible, having a clear understanding of the leadership team seats in particular, on the accountability chart obviously, a clear understanding and someone having oversight of, and that someone is the integrator which is also incredible, the leadership team scorecard. So if numbers aren't moving, that's the integrator's responsibility to figure out like, hey, Joe in the clinical director seat, this number isn't getting fixed. What's going on? Like that's where LMA comes in from integrator to a leadership team member, you know? It feels actually possible and maybe within the realm of a year that I would be almost entirely in a more visionary consultant role. And I say a year because I would want the right people in the right seats on the leadership team, and I would wanna be operating as visionary consistently for a few months with those folks in place, and then I would just slowly continue to shift more and more into visionary consultant. So that does feel possible, and it does feel like it could happen within the next year, honestly, which is fucking awesome. 📍 So all right. Thanks. That's all. That's all I got for you folks. I really appreciate your time and make sure you either subscribe or send this podcast to somebody that you know needs to hear it. All right? Have a great week or day or year or what the hell ever, and I will see you next time. Bye. See ya.