473 | We Used THIS To DOUBLE Our Business | EOS Expert Mike Paton

Aug 19

=== [00:00:00] Mike Paton: You can keep
bringing file folders full of work home or going to the office seven days a week
and lamenting the fact that your car is the first in the parking lot and the last
to leave every night or you can get help. [00:00:14] Chaz Wolfe: Do you feel like your
systems and processes in your business needs
(00:14) some work? Have you ever thought about using the
entrepreneur operating system to gain traction in your business, but you're not sure how
to implement it successfully. Welcome to driven to win. This is the show that helps
entrepreneurs who want to win in all areas and aren't afraid to do the work to get there.
(00:30) [00:00:32] Chaz Wolfe: I'm your host,
Chaz Wolfe. My mission on this show is to help entrepreneurs learn to grow and win in
all areas, business, family, health, faith, and lifestyle. We have an exciting addition
also to this episode. Joining me as co host is Jake Isaacs, the COO and integrator at
Gathering the Kings. Jake brings a wealth
(00:46) of experience and insight, making him the
perfect co host for today's discussion. [00:00:54] Chaz Wolfe: Welcome [00:00:54] Jake: Jake. What's up everyone.
Happy to be here and share my perspective as I've served as an integrator for
several corporations in my past. Chaz, I'm also the number one fan of this podcast. So
co hosting with you is a real special treat. This
(01:03) conversation is going to be incredible.
I'm looking forward to getting into it. [00:01:12] Chaz Wolfe: That's right, Jake,
because we've got Mike Patton on the show today. He's a true expert in the EOS system. He's
co authored two books in the traction library, including get a grip and process. He's
here today to help you transform your
(01:21) business from chaos to a well oiled,
profitable machine. We discuss if you should hire an implementer for EOS,
common mistakes when implementing EOS, And Mike also shares the four traits all
effective integrators have in common. [00:01:39] Chaz Wolfe: Plus, stay tuned to the
end so you can get behind the curtain and hear
(01:39) Jake and I share our thoughts on the interview.
If you have ever wanted to bring more structure, organization, and growth to your
business, this episode is for you. [00:01:51] [00:01:53] Chaz Wolfe: We are ready to rock
and roll here. we have been anticipating, this moment. We've got a lot
of really cool guests, but EOS
(01:56) as a system is, is something that a
lot of our clients are on GTK is on. [00:02:04] Chaz Wolfe: there's, there's self
implementing there's obviously implementers. I'm sure you probably have a little bit
of a formula of like when someone should self implement versus when they
should just kind of buck up and.
(02:12) [00:02:15] Chaz Wolfe: Hire an
implementer. What do you see as being the value for each one or
maybe the right formula? Right. [00:02:47] Mike Paton: the only advice I give
somebody who's intent on self implementing who believes self implementation is a good fit is
twofold. First, please bring your leadership
(02:51) team in to see me. There's no charge for this.
For 90 minutes. Let me paint a picture for you of what the end of the implementation
journey is supposed to look and feel like. [00:03:09] Mike Paton: So you have the box top
of a jigsaw puzzle, right? If you don't know what the puzzle is supposed to look like when
you put it all together, it's impossible. Try,
(03:14) try doing a jigsaw puzzle with the back
pieces, the back of the pieces up instead of the other way around. Right? And, and then
the second thing is be aware that you are aware. [00:03:30] Mike Paton: More likely to
influence what the people on your team say, think, and do than you believe you are. The
vast majority of my clients who own their
(03:39) businesses or are the CEO or whatever, You
know, head person in their leadership team can't imagine that they would intimidate
any other member of their leadership team. [00:03:58] Mike Paton: And it is just really hard
to make important change happen as the leader of an organization, because about 50 percent
of the time we're the problem. And what,
(04:04) what an outside facilitator does.
is two things. It allows you as the leader to participate alongside your
leadership team members as an equal, which is good for you because it's
really hard to hat switch all the time. [00:04:28] Chaz Wolfe: Silence. Okay. [00:04:47] Mike Paton: and so on and so forth.
(04:34) [00:04:48] Mike Paton: So if you're worried
at all about those. Two things when you're contemplating self implementation, just
go see a professional EOS implementer in your region. Do that 90 minute meeting and
then have an open and honest conversation with your leadership team at the end
of that 90 minute meeting and with
(05:05) the implementer still in the room about
whether or not you're likely to be more successful with you leading the charge or
some other team member leading the charge. [00:05:17] Mike Paton: or hiring somebody
else and whatever decision you make at that point is a great decision. And I've seen
self implementing companies do Do great
(05:21) work as long as they know where they're
going on their journey and they've got Somebody like me available if they
get stuck or confused or frustrated. [00:05:35] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, I think that,
that, that picture that you gave, is really, really healthy. Both ways. I was just
talking to a client actually just like
(05:38) three days ago about this exact thing. And
I said it a slight bit different. And I said that. If the reason why you would hire the
implementer is because if, as the owner, you want to experience it also, rather
than being the experience to be in the experience, to be able to show up to the
meeting and not have to have prepared for it.
(05:55) [00:05:59] Chaz Wolfe: And, and be running it
is a totally different experience as opposed to having to be the guy or the gal. so I love
the other additions that you gave to that. [00:06:09] Mike Paton: Yeah, cool. [00:06:10] Jake: The other thing about
that I think is as visionaries, right, you've got all of these different ideas and
the inability to necessarily make all of those
(06:13) ideas come to fruition. So when you come to
your leadership team with this idea of EOS, it's just one of those other things that Charlie
Brown's teacher has been talking about, right? [00:06:28] Jake: It's like, how seriously
are we going to take this? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, well, Mike, when, when you look at
some of the businesses that you've known have self
(06:33) implemented, are there common mistakes that
you see in this self implementation process? [00:06:44] Mike Paton: well, you mentioned one
of them, right? The smorgasbord approach to using the foundational tools of EOS, right? And the
foundational tools are the VTO or vision traction organizer, the accountability chart, rocks, the
two part meeting pulse, including quarterlies and
(06:54) annuals and weekly level tens, +and then a great
scorecard cascaded throughout the organization. [00:07:08] Mike Paton: And so, you know, when
I say to a client, well, you know, What's your accountability chart look like? And they say,
well, we don't, we haven't done the accountability chart yet. Well, you know, that's what we do
first, because a vision without traction is
(07:16) hallucination. And so in order to gain traction,
you need to clarify who's accountable for what. [00:07:28] Mike Paton: And when you're crafting
a VTO, for example, and we're not real clear on who's accountable for marketing and
sales. And the visionary keeps saying, we're going to be a hundred billion
dollars in five years. You know,
(07:37) the people in the room aren't
really going to say, Hey, you know, I can maybe get you to 400 million boss, but
a hundred billion in five years, you're nuts. [00:07:50] Mike Paton: And so it's
those kinds of things and, you know, not running level 10s or thinking you can do it
every month instead of every week. And, you know,
(07:53) it's the, the, the, what you learn after 17 years
of EOS implementation is you learn the tweaks that aren't dangerous and you learn what's
going to kill you. And the biggest one is. [00:08:15] Mike Paton: A lack of simplification
and over complication of the work. I've seen 15 page vision traction organizers and for
your, for your listeners and viewers who
(08:21) aren't steeped in EOS, Terminology. The VTO
is usually a two page strategic planning document that clarifies the company's
vision and plan to achieve that vision. [00:08:39] Mike Paton: And so, you
know, three pages every once in a while, there's an issues list, that's a little
too long to fit on page one or page two,
(08:42) but, but 15 pages is just somebody vomiting all
over, you know, a word document until everybody's going to be confused. And so those are the
kinds of things you have to be careful about. [00:09:00] Jake: Yeah. The, the, responsibilities
chart is such an important thing. when we self implemented EOS ourselves, there was three
of us. So the leadership team was But then
(09:06) there were three employees, right? And
so we, we didn't necessarily think that that was the thing that we should start
with because it's just the three of us, [00:09:19] Mike Paton: Yeah,
how hard could this be? [00:09:21] Chaz Wolfe: Yep. [00:09:21] Jake: ran for about six
months and saw very little growth
(09:21) inside of the business because
we weren't clear on the roles. [00:09:28] Jake: And then last October, we were all together and got very clear about what
our three roles were. And from October to January, we doubled the size of the business just
because of, we now knew what lanes we needed to run in. And could be free to do
what we needed to do inside of those lanes.
(09:41) [00:09:46] Mike Paton: Yeah. And I don't
know if this is what happened to you. And I'd love to hear back from the two of you.
But, you know, because we're steeped in what we call the structure first people second
approach to building an accountability charge. What we do is ask the leadership team
to say, to get from where we are today,
(09:59) to where you want to be six to 12 months from now,
what are the major functions of this business? [00:10:09] Mike Paton: And, and, and those major
functions in the simplest accountability chart, most of my clients would come up with would be
one leader in charge of marketing and sales, one leader in charge of operations, One
leader in charge of finance or finance
(10:20) and administration and then an integrator and a
visionary if there is one in your organization. [00:10:32] Mike Paton: And so it's five seats and
so with three people if that's the accountability chart you come up with now you have to decide
who's in which seat. And in many organizations that have three people in it, the visionary
feels like he or she is in every one of those
(10:43) five seats. And you and there are two admins that
were just waiting around to be told what to do. [00:10:54] Mike Paton: And so what that
painting that picture does is, you know, Is help you realize you can't grow in scale. If
that's the way you're going to, you know, structure your business, a genius and a
thousand followers doesn't work a genius
(11:05) and five followers probably works maybe 25, but
at some point you're going to be beyond your. [00:11:17] Mike Paton: Capacity to delegate
to a team of people who are looking to only you for direction. And so that's the joy of
this work. Like when I explain it that way, I'm sure everybody's like, Oh, that makes
sense. But man, when it was the three of you,
(11:26) you're just sitting in the room going, I
don't know, there's a bunch of stuff to do. [00:11:33] Mike Paton: I'm just going to
grab a shovel and start digging and you do the same. And then you're whacking each
other on the forehead with your shovels and throwing dirt in one another's eyes.
And it's, God, it's really frustrating.
(11:40) [00:11:45] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, I want to
respond to our scenario, but I want your, I want your feedback on it because you're a hundred
percent right in that moment, you know, it was, it was me shoveling by myself with, and then an
assistant. And then, you know, we bring in Jake and there's a couple of other assistants is really
that team was three and we were just kind of all.
(11:58) [00:12:03] Chaz Wolfe: Doing it, we were
all shoveling. And so to your point, creating the accountability chart, even
so much so to where it was like, okay, Chaz is a visionary, but he's also the head of
sales and marketing now, and that's cool because Chaz has a scorecard and there's certain KPIs
that he has to hit and he's reporting to Jake.
(12:15) [00:12:20] Chaz Wolfe: The integrator [00:12:22] Mike Paton: and Jake's, but Jake
still reports to Chaz as the visionary. And some people are like, wait a second,
what? But when you write it out on paper, it makes perfect sense. I'm just, I'm
just wearing two hats. What would you say to that? if I'm not taking care of my
responsibilities and accountabilities, right?
(12:31) [00:12:37] Mike Paton: And that's what
you discovered in that moment of, Hey, the make it up. Person has an unlimited filter
on making shit up. But when it comes to making things happen, we're a little less gifted in
this area, and we rely on other people to do it. And so every once in a while, if you have to
make things happen in an organization with three
(12:55) people in it, it helps to have an accountability
partner, and Jake served that role for you. [00:13:04] Mike Paton: So I think that's a
fabulous story, and I would hope all your self implementing members use that thinking.
to help embrace the accountability chart, even if they only have one, two or three
people because it clear it. And if the
(13:16) other thing it did, Is it probably
put you in a position to say, Hey, someday we're going to have somebody other
than me in the sales and marketing seat. [00:13:29] Chaz Wolfe: Exactly. [00:13:30] Mike Paton: And so now in that role,
you're not only thinking about how you can be effective, but you're thinking about maybe putting
a process in place that is going to help a new
(13:34) person succeed without the growing pains that they
would succeed with if they started from scratch. And it, it just has you think about your business
differently when you're accountable for something. [00:13:51] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, I agree.
And actually I think for that reason, because of that, you know, never ending well
of golden BS, that we were talking about as
(13:54) visionaries, because of that, actually most of
the time we don't. Don't recommend people self implement. It's not like we're experts on EOS
by any means at all, but we have clients that. [00:14:07] Chaz Wolfe: Come across the book or
we, we talk about it in a mastermind setting or something. And it's like, Oh, that's really
interesting. Maybe they read the book and then
(14:10) they've got questions like, well, what did you
do? How, what have you seen? And I think our experience one being so small to being both
of us, kind of have the integrated, I'm, I'm, we're going to get to this here in a second,
but I scored high on both and Jake scoring super high on an integrator is like, we felt
like we were capable, but for most visionaries.
(14:27) [00:14:32] Chaz Wolfe: I think the implementation
process that you guys have is the way to go, because it's the only way that's really going
to hold to it because the visionaries are, like you said, kind of just a never ending flow of
thing, not necessarily accomplishing or checking. [00:14:44] Mike Paton: Yeah, you got that
right. And, and I, you know, the, the,
(14:43) the funny behind the scenes story here is
that when I was trained for the first time, 17 years ago, I self identified as an integrator
and I said that to Gino about three or four years into my journey. And he goes, he just started
laughing. He couldn't even talk to me, like [00:15:07] Chaz Wolfe: bud.
(15:06) [00:15:08] Mike Paton: 15 minutes, he's laughing. [00:15:09] Mike Paton: And I'm like, Hey, come
on. I've accomplished a lot in my career and blah, blah, blah. He goes, Pete. You're not
hardwired like an integrator, dude. You're capable of integrating, but you're hardwired as
a visionary. And, and, and that is true of almost
(15:19) all entrepreneurs is that when we're passionate
about something and we're determined, in fact, if you want to motivate me and Chas, this is
going to resonate with you, I'm almost certain. [00:15:37] Mike Paton: Tell me something
isn't possible. Like that'll really get me going. Okay. So Jake, if you
want to really fire jazz up,
(15:40) there's your tip for today. It's going to be
a long week, buddy, but that's, you know, so, [00:15:51] Chaz Wolfe: sleep. [00:15:52] Jake: Yeah. [00:15:53] Mike Paton: There's a misconception
in the world that the only thing that qualifies you as a visionary is if you score really high in
this assessment and really low in this assessment.
(15:59) [00:16:04] Mike Paton: It's not just not
right. Okay. You, you can get data points that confirm where you're going to be most happy
and satisfied and effective. But those are just all data points. And a lot of people can be
effective in roles. They're not hardwired to be great at and to love every day. and and then
the other thing that happens, Jake, is a lot of
(16:21) integrators out there feel like because they're
an integrator, they're not allowed to have vision. [00:16:32] Mike Paton: Well, I hope you have
vision. And, you know, we specifically hired my integrator looking for someone who's hardwiring
was, you know, able to look into the future because if, if she was too execution oriented and
not, you know, we were early stage entrepreneurial
(16:44) company, we didn't need a. You know, chief
operating officer from a 5, 000 employee company. [00:16:58] Mike Paton: That's just trying to
eat another 0. 1 percent of net profit out of the organization. We needed an executor with
some vision. And so it is a spectrum. Every visionary is different. Integrators come with a
lot of different qualities. What integrators have
(17:09) to have is focus, discipline, a comfort with
being accountable and driving accountability, even upwards to the owner or the visionary,
okay,an ability to have tough conversations and get in the muck rather than, you know, a lot of
visionaries want somebody else to fix the problem. [00:17:37] Chaz Wolfe: Bye
(17:37) [00:17:41] Mike Paton: and there's a
problem with being caused by two of them, the visionaries looking around for somebody
else to fix the problem, anybody else. And so that's that whole visionary integrator thing.
It's a spectrum and get your data points. [00:17:57] Mike Paton: And ask your team.
That's the other thing. When I have this
(17:56) conversation in that 90 minute meeting, and the
visionary says, Yeah, I'm not really sure if I'm a visionary or an integrator. 85 percent of the
time, the rest of the team just starts laughing. [00:18:10] [00:18:10] Chaz Wolfe: well, let's,
let's get your opinion here. I told you I'd bring this back up,
but, on a data point here,
(18:15) Jake was 90 integrator, 45 visionary,
and I was 94 integrator, 97 visionary. [00:18:24] Chaz Wolfe: What are
your thoughts on that combo? [00:18:26] Mike Paton: you're
better at taking tests than Jake is. [00:18:30] Jake: God, if
that ain't the truth, Mike, [00:18:33] Mike Paton: my answer.
You knew the right answer to both.
(18:32) [00:18:36] Chaz Wolfe: That's [00:18:36] Mike Paton: you gave the right
answer. Right? So, so that's, that's it. [00:18:42] Mike Paton: And,
and, and that's what, what, what I would be saying to you is quit looking
at the test. Just what do you wanna be, what's the highest and best,
it's like real estate, right?
(18:49) [00:18:52] Mike Paton: If you're a real estate
developer, you're constantly obsessing about, for this piece of ground. I could do anything with
it. It could be a golf course, it could be a farm, it could be an apartment complex. It could
be a strip center. It could be a commercial office building. What's the highest
and best use of this piece of ground.
(19:04) [00:19:09] Mike Paton: The piece of ground
isn't taking a fricking assessment test. Piece of ground is just a piece of ground.
What's the highest and best use. What's going to bring you joy. What's going to add the
most value to the business. Now go do that. [00:19:23] Mike Paton: So for those
of you out there who are visionaries
(19:23) watching this and you're wondering what kind
of integrator you need, you need an integrator. [00:19:31] Mike Paton: You feel that way
about that they're going to be better than you at execution. and happier than you when
they're driving execution. And if you hire somebody that's affordable, but you don't feel
that way about them, you're making a mistake.
(19:41) [00:19:46] Mike Paton: If I hire
the right partner, guy or gal, and they'll do it with because of the visionary
integrator partnership is a partnership. It isn't one person telling another person what to do.
It isn't one person chasing the visionary around with a broom and a And a trash can, like you're
following a trained monkey act in the circus.
(20:00) [00:20:07] Mike Paton: It's we're a partnership
and I'm going to leverage the integrators, skill sets, and disciplines to do this
kind of work. And that's going to free me up to be the most valuable visionary. I
can possibly be to this organization. Ah, it's like the right marriage. You know, when
you're working really hard at a marriage.
(20:20) [00:20:25] Mike Paton: Where there's just
a mismatch. And then one day you discover a great marriage where you can be you and
the integrator can be the integrator. And together you make a dynamic duo that
is unstoppable. Oh, that's what I want your. Viewers to think about and fantasize
about and go make happen in their business.
(20:42) [00:20:48] Mike Paton: And you're
right, Jake, it might take two or three attempts. You might get it wrong,
but keep trying until you get it right. [00:20:55] Chaz Wolfe: Silence. [00:21:23] Mike Paton: yeah, it's a boy
interesting. So I'm going to speak to how Gino found his integrator. And then I'll
speak to how, he found his successor, me,
(21:26) and then I'll speak to how I worked with Gino
and Don to find my integrator to replace Don, who was Gino's integrator. So, Gino
found his integrator by sharing with all of his friends and confidants in his
network that he was looking for the one. [00:21:49] Mike Paton: And he had a very clear
definition of the core values and the attributes
(21:49) of the successful person. And he, he got dozens
of names and Don ended up being the top person on the list, but when they met initially,
Gino said to him, Don, I don't think you're cut out for this. Okay. He didn't have that
feel and Don said, let me prove it to you. [00:22:15] Mike Paton: And so Don went out,
replicated all of Gino's results as an EOS
(22:15) implementer to demonstrate that he had what
it took to not only be successful in the role, but to teach other people who are different from
Gino, how to be successful in the role. Okay. So he earned his role as the integrator. through hard
work, discipline, and demonstrating with results. [00:22:38] Mike Paton: Okay. So fast
forward to 2015, Gino and Don started
(22:38) working together in about 2005. So this
was about 10 years later when I took over, Gino had executed a three year succession plan
to find his successor as a visionary and to, set me up to be successful. Okay, so that's
how that happened. And it just so happened that I was a member of the community,
that he tapped on the shoulder and said,
(23:04) Hey, you're one of the people I
think would be great at this role. [00:23:12] Mike Paton: But there
was a very thorough vetting process, some tough and honest conversations about
things that I needed to do differently and better. And hopefully they resonated with
me and, and will last me a lifetime. So,
(23:19) and then when I, when Don was ready to step away
and return to his life as a grandfather and, and an EOS full time EOS implementer,
I went through a 12 month period of thinking about what kind of integrator
we needed, because it was different. [00:23:43] Mike Paton: full time person and
ultimately hired,executive retained executive
(23:42) search firm, specializing in integrator
search headquartered here in the Twin Cities that happened to be a client of mine.
And, and they exhaustively talked to Gino, me, Don, and the rest of our leadership team to get a
sense of what the ideal candidate would look like. [00:24:09] Mike Paton: And then we went through
a process and hired the best candidate from the
(24:09) group. We had four really qualified people
that we felt confident could do great work. But Kelly Knight, I'm grateful to her every day
for the value she brought to our partnership. [00:24:24] [00:24:24] Jake: That's awesome. So
there's a search form in Minneapolis that will specifically go out and
find an integrator for the business is
(24:28) [00:24:32] Mike Paton: Yeah.
Yeah, my friend Mike Frommelt, originally called Keystone Search, now Strategic [00:24:39] Chaz Wolfe: in [00:24:43] Mike Paton: friend and client
of, EOS and they've got, they've got a new business. I'll have to get you
the details for the show notes. [00:24:51] Mike Paton: Awesome.
(24:51) [00:24:52] Chaz Wolfe: show notes. [00:24:52] Jake: Very good. Appreciate
it. one of our clients was. Commenting last night on Facebook. He, you
know, he took a screen grab of, of traction and said he's reading it and he's
excited about it and he's into chapter two. And so I just commented like, Hey, I actually
we're, we're interviewing Mike Patton tomorrow.
(25:04) [00:25:09] Jake: What question would you like me
to ask him? And so, his response. So this, this question is for George. what are some questions
that you would ask an individual to find out if they're open minded and they're ready to grow?
Whether it's a new employee or a current employee. [00:25:26] Mike Paton: Yeah. The first, Oh,
if he's interviewing candidates, they're
(25:26) open minded and ready to grow. Hmm. Oh, is that
a great question? So. From an open mindedness, I might ask about, any strong beliefs they
have. Do you have any strong beliefs about people or the world or the way to run a successful
business that you'd be willing to share with me? [00:25:56] Mike Paton: Right. And
I'd want them to have strong beliefs,
(25:56) but then I'd probably ask a follow-up
question and, and say, what would you do if you were confronted with evidence that
that strong belief might be misleading? Might, might be a way I would ask that question in
terms of the ready to grow. I always ask, what would you do in your, what do you do in
your free time to keep your saw sharpened?
(26:17) [00:26:22] Mike Paton: How do you, how
do you make yourself better? If they're, if I know they have kids because
it's come up in the conversation, I know you're not allowed to ask those questions
anymore, but, but if it's already come up in the conversation, I say, you know, what do you do
to promote learning and growth and betterment?
(26:33) [00:26:38] Mike Paton: In your family, you
know, like, like, I just want to know what they're doing. If they, if they say, Oh
no, I don't read books or, you know, I, what do you mean? Sharpen the saw?
That's, that's not a great answer. [00:26:51] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah,
those are some indicators, Right?
(26:51) [00:26:53] Jake: You co wrote,
get a grip with Gino. How did you decide that this needed to be a
part of the library, the EOS library? [00:27:01] Mike Paton: One of our
motivations was writing a story that would be compelling enough that a
visionary wants to read to the end. and, and so that was one of the motives. We also
wanted to illustrate the proper. cadence of
(27:10) how a professional EOS implementer teaches
the tools that are presented in Traction. [00:27:22] Mike Paton: It is presented in a
different order in the book Traction because it's an academic study rather
than a chronological study. And [00:27:30] Mike Paton: so that was another one. [00:27:32] Jake: Well, it's so funny
to hear, you know, that you guys were
(27:32) [00:27:34] Jake: both fans of Pat's because
both Chaz and I love Pat's books as well. and so when I was reading, get a grip, I was like,
man, if I would have read this before traction, I think it would have clicked in my brain
a little bit better. As a young boy, I used to grow up reading those
choose your own adventure books.
(27:48) [00:27:51] Jake: And so I could, I could read
the same book 15 times. and, and when I read traction for the first time, it was like, Oh,
I understand what I'm supposed to do here, but like, I don't know what the story
is for our business. And so in reading, get a grip and getting to like, Walk through
this fictional turnaround, with the company
(28:07) that you guys wrote about, it just really made
it all clear to me on how to move forward. [00:28:19] Mike Paton: Thank you. it's a, it's
a blessing every time I hear somebody say that. And that, that was part of the goal. And the other
part of the goal is to help our clients understand that the pain and frustration and worry. And,
you know, dislike for people they used to love,
(28:28) you know, all those things are normal that
if you're running an entrepreneurial company, emotion is going to happen and
it doesn't make you wrong or bad. [00:28:44] Mike Paton: It just means you've
got an issue and you've got to figure out how to resolve that issue. And so that's
really what we were trying to. teach is,
(28:47) hey, in real life , this is
the way this stuff works. So, [00:28:57] Chaz Wolfe: All right. I got a
unique question here for you. I like to ask most of our podcast guests this, but, I'm a
huge believer. In fact, it's, it's the, it's the backbone of gathering the Kings, in chapter 10
of thinking, grow rich. Napoleon Hill talks about
(29:03) the mastermind principle and two or more minds
working in harmony unto something, specific. [00:29:12] Chaz Wolfe: and so the integrator
visionary relationship is an obvious mastermind. Like we've just got done talking about that,
the marriage, but how else have you used this principle in just your journey of being an
entrepreneur, to be successful or to get leverage?
(29:20) [00:29:25] Mike Paton: Yeah, well, my marriage
to Kate is, the best mastermind I'm a part of by a mile. She's the best person I know
and has helped turn me into a much better person than I was before I met her. but
you know, Gino, Don, and I formed what we call inside the EOS implementer community as
the original T group, T stands for traction.
(29:40) [00:29:46] Mike Paton: Three
implementers working together to hold one another accountable to being
great implementers. Right? And so now there are literally hundreds of T groups in
the U. S. Implementer community that have between three and eight members. and they meet
regularly and drive accountability and problem
(30:00) solved together where we have a slack channel
with all kinds of different channels on it. [00:30:11] Mike Paton: And People are
constantly posting emergency questions and I'm going into a session and this
is going to happen. And so, you know, Napoleon Hill and Think and Grow Rich is probably
the book I've heard Gino quote more than,
(30:18) everything except Dan Sullivan's stuff, Pat
Lencioni's stuff, and Vern Harnish's stuff. [00:30:31] Mike Paton: So, you know, it,
we're, we're all over that too. And I applaud what you're doing and, you know, And,
you know, people, an unfortunate percentage of the people who are running entrepreneurial
companies need to be coerced into joining
(30:40) mastermind groups or finding peer groups
where they're not going to feel so alone. [00:30:51] Mike Paton: And they're
going to realize that everybody else is going through the same stuff. And.
feel better about reaching out to get help. And so I applaud that. And I'm
grateful to you guys for doing that work.
(30:58) [00:31:02] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. I
appreciate that. just a thought there on that emotion. Like I know
the entrepreneur feels isolated. They, they have the weight as we say it, or the
weight of the crown, but there's that gap, what you just described of like, ah, I'll
just do it by myself or I'll just carry
(31:14) it a little bit longer. Or maybe there's
not like a full acknowledgement of that. [00:31:21] Chaz Wolfe: I'm isolated or that
I'm alone, or that maybe even feels weak and joining up with other people just to like get
together and talk about problems. Doesn't, I don't know if I see that solving my
problems. I just see it as maybe a big
(31:30) group of friends. What would you say to that
person? That's kind of stuck in that gap, [00:31:38] Mike Paton: Yeah. What I hear more often to be candid with you is I
just don't have the time for that. [00:31:43] Chaz Wolfe: right? [00:31:45] Mike Paton: And, you know, there's a
cartoon that gets passed around the implementer
(31:44) community. A lot. You guys probably see this
in your network as well of the. salesperson with the first wheel talking to a group
of three cavemen pushing a wheelbarrow. [00:32:01] Mike Paton: That's
got a square wheel on it. [00:32:03] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. [00:32:03] Mike Paton: He says, Hey, I
think I can help you. And they say, Hey,
(32:03) we're too busy right now. Right? Like, like
give it a shot. You, you might find that it, it frees up time that participating in a group
of other like minded people, one question, and you're solving three issues that are what you
would have struggled with for the next 90 days. [00:32:23] Mike Paton: So I just say,
just try it. give it a shot. Trust,
(32:23) call the person you trust most, who you
know is in some kind of a mastermind or, or peer group and, and ask them
for a recommendation or two. [00:32:37] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, that's good.
I think that the, the, the ultimate piece there is what you just said. As I get one,
one little snippet that I heard and it
(32:41) actually solves three things for me, or that
it was a domino effect because I solved this, then it automatically solved this and this, and
you don't, it's hard to calculate those things, but when you start doing it for a regular
period of time, I've got, I've Folks with, within our group that have been, you know,
around for maybe a year or two, even three.
(32:58) [00:33:02] Chaz Wolfe: And the responses
that I get from them now are, well, I, I, my business has grown, doubled or tripled. I'm
spending more time with my family, especially my wife or my husband. I have, I have more time for
my health than I ever have before. And it's like. [00:33:17] Chaz Wolfe: I'm still like in that
place, like this is them scratching my head going.
(33:17) [00:33:20] Chaz Wolfe: I'm working less. I have
a better life, but my business is crushing. I'm still kind of in the, like, how does this
even happening? But to your point, a lot of times when you spend time on the things that
matter, it doesn't actually take as much time. [00:33:35] Mike Paton: well the, the hurrier I
go, the behinder I get is kind of the thing I
(33:34) hear a lot when somebody's on their way
into an EOS implementation, overwhelm, promotes more overwhelm, and, you know, methodical
elimination of issues by strengthening the six key components of a business. solve a
bunch of issues and free up time. [00:34:02] Mike Paton: And so you can keep
bringing file folders full of work home
(34:02) or going to the office seven days a week and
lamenting the fact that your car is the first in the parking lot and the last to leave every
night or you can get help. And, and, you know, I hope more people get help. I think that's
an epidemic of a problem in this country. [00:34:23] Mike Paton: I think our rugged
individualism on which this country was founded,
(34:23) the pendulum can swing way too far
one direction and once in a while, it's okay to swing it back the other direction and
say, Hey, you know, it turns out I'm a human and I'm full of flaws and. You know, talking
to other people who might have struggled with the same things and getting their
perspective might make me a better human.
(34:41) [00:34:45] Mike Paton:
Yeah. That's valuable stuff. [00:34:47] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, extremely. All
right, Mike. Well, how can the listener find you? We'll put this in the show notes as
well. But, of course they can get your book, but how can they find you? They want to connect
with you. Maybe they want to connect with EOS,
(34:52) but like your particular, you're,
you got this thing going on. [00:34:57] Chaz Wolfe: That's just Mike.
how can they find you particularly? [00:35:00] Mike Paton: Well, they can find me all
over the EOS worldwide website, much to my chagrin to be perfect, but if they search the implementer
directory for an implementer in the twin cities
(35:05) or, Sarasota, Florida, where I'm establishing
a presence, they'll find me. Right away. [00:35:20] Chaz Wolfe: We'll put all that in the
show notes, Mike, you, your insight, just years of history, the stories, all of that super valuable.
Honestly, I wish I had a Rogan three hour period with you here, but I guess so many more questions.
but we appreciate you being here. Appreciate your
(35:29) time. blessings to you, your family, Kate, all
the things that you're touching here in 2024. [00:35:39] Chaz Wolfe: Thank you so [00:35:39] Mike Paton: Yeah. And Chaz and
Jake, thank you. I really admire the work you're doing and it was a great pleasure
to be part of your show today. Thank you. [00:35:47] Chaz Wolfe: Jake, my man,
we just got done with Mike. A lot of
(35:47) stuff on EOS. What, what are you, what are you
thinking? What are you, what are you feeling? [00:35:56] Jake: just, I really enjoy
some of the behind the scenes story stuff that he was talking about with, with
Gino and Don and building EOS and. you know, him talking about the mastermind principle and
think you grow rich and how Napoleon Hill is one
(36:06) of his literary heroes. This whole concept of EOS
though, is, is simple and as difficult as you want to make it and hearing Mike talk about the years
and years of experience he's had, not only running EOS, but also being an implementer for other
businesses and helping them through this process. [00:36:32] Jake: I think it was
just valuable. Super valuable.
(36:32) [00:36:34] Chaz Wolfe: I felt the same way
as far as the simplicity of his answers, but the weight or the movement that those
answers could give to our listeners, the suggestions to implementation as opposed to self
implementation, what were your thoughts on that? [00:36:50] Jake: Yeah. You know, I understand
that you and I are a unique breed.I feel I may be
(36:50) incorrect with this, but I feel we've been
successful in self implementing EOS and we self implemented in a, in a time in our
business where we knew that we wanted to have this foundation that as the team grew,
we could grow with this EOS process with this, this vision, traction, and you know, vision
integrator roles inside of the business.
(37:14) [00:37:22] Jake: But I also recognize
that like most people aren't us and should have an implementer come in
and help them do this because it's, it's weighty stuff. It's heavy stuff.
And you need a coach just like Michael Jordan had a shot coach. You know, he's the
greatest basketball player of all time. He
(37:36) could be teaching people how to shoot, but he
knew the importance of having someone else. [00:37:47] Jake: To help him guide him through
the success that he had in his career. Same thing here, like bring in someone, help them
or help you implement these, these concepts. [00:38:00] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. Yeah. I think
that, the, the, the heaviest piece there for
(38:00) the entrepreneur is that I can do it or I'm
capable of doing it. It's the same thing that the visionary. Carries the integrator role as
long as they have to, I guess. Right. Cause they're capable, we're capable of doing
it.but should you is the better question. [00:38:18] Chaz Wolfe: And, even just thinking
about my conversation, you know, with George a
(38:18) couple of days ago, because he was asking me
like, how much does it cost? And what are the benefits and kind of just the back and forth. And
I was like, well, to be honest with you, you know, you're an architect. Okay, cool. Like you're
disciplined, you're forward thinking you've got the ability to follow through, but like, I
don't know what the rest of your team looks like.
(38:33) [00:38:36] Chaz Wolfe: And, Jake and I are both
that, as a visionary integrator partnership, but we were also really small. And so you
have a, you have a big team already and for you to be the guy that is rolling this
out and kind of pushing it as opposed to here's the expert and we're all now
going to follow this person's lead.
(38:52) [00:38:56] Chaz Wolfe: As soon as I said that
he was like, oh yeah, like that makes way more sense because I could, I could introduce it, but
to push this. Yeah. No, I have a business. Yeah. [00:39:05] Jake: No, exactly. And we
mentioned it on the conversation with Mike, but sometimes as the visionary of that
organization, you're the idea factory
(39:09) and. Less than half of those ideas get
implemented. So for you to come to your leadership team and say, Hey, I've got this
idea. We're going to self implement EOS. [00:39:23] Jake: This is something that, you
know, gets put on the wood pile of great ideas that never come to fruition. And so
by having someone else be the weight,
(39:27) be the force behind pushing this boulder
up the hill, I mean, it's money well spent. [00:39:38] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, yeah, I agree. Well,
the conversation with Mike was incredible. I'm sure we've got more thoughts, but, it was cool to
get a little, little tidbit here after the show, just record it up. And, I think that our
audience will be pleased, as they listen
(39:45) [00:39:50] Jake: Just as a side note, I can't
overstate how good reading get a grip was and pairing that with traction. It changes the
way that I viewed that book. And so if people are thinking about implementing EOS, whether
it's self implementing or hiring an implementer, reading, get a grip is I think the first step that
I would recommend even before reading traction.
(40:10) [00:40:15] Thank you for listening today.
I hope that you were able to pull out a few nuggets to go apply into your business
right away. More importantly, though, I hope that you're realizing that it
takes more to be successful than just being by yourself, doing it all on your
own, carrying the weight all by yourself.
(40:27) [00:40:32] What I have realized, not only
in my own journey from multiple businesses and multiple different industries,
and now interviewing over 200 or 300, is that you can do it all on your own. And
I hope that you're Other very successful seven, eight, and nine figure business owners
is that it's tough to do it alone.
(40:41) [00:40:45] And so gathering the Kings exists
to bring together successful entrepreneurs. In fact, we are putting together 1000 Kings
specifically who are grateful, but not done. We're intentionally assembling Kings who fight
tooth and nail for their business, family, and communities. And here's what we believe that
in the pursuit of excellence in those areas,
(41:01) That it ignites within us, the responsibility
to govern power and forge a lasting legacy. [00:41:13] So if that relates and
resonates with you, and you know, that you need people around you, sharp, qualified,
other very successful business owners. I want you to go to gatheringthekings. com. Once you take
a look at what we're doing and see if it makes
(41:22) sense for you to be part of our
pursuit to 1000 Kings talk soon.

Mike Paton joins the podcast to discuss the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and its profound impact on businesses. He shares valuable tips and common pitfalls in self-implementing EOS, emphasizing the importance of an accountability chart. The conversation covers the crucial roles of visionaries and integrators, and how to find the right integrator for your business. Mike also reflects on co-authoring 'Get a Grip' with Gino Wickman and addresses the emotional challenges entrepreneurs face, highlighting the benefits of mastermind groups.

Mike Paton:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikepaton/

Website: https://www.eosworldwide.com/mike-paton

The company Mike spoke about to find an integrator:

Website: https://strategictalentpartners.com/

Chaz's favorite morning drink to fuel him for his day:

10% off Code: GATHERINGKINGS10