TEB Book Review: Traction by Gino Wickman

For those of you who have known me for a while (or at least have read my leadership article in November) you know that I am severely directionally challenged. I thank God for the Google Maps App on my smartphone. Prior to smartphones, I used to take out an old-fashioned map and highlight the best route to get to my destination. In addition to the route, I would select 3 or 4 checkpoints that would help ensure that I was staying on the right route.

With 2019 just starting, I have been thinking and talking with entrepreneurs a good deal about their plans for the new year. Some of them have a very detailed roadmap they want to travel by 12/31/19, and others have more of a loose list of priorities. Whatever your system for setting, measuring, and accomplishing goals in the next year, I hope that you don’t just wing it or write the goals down and never look at them again until December.

I think that it is fitting that the first “The Entrepreneur’s Banker – Book Review” of 2019 is Traction by Gino Wickman. If you look at my strategic plan that I posted last week, you will see that I am a believer in what Gino has developed and am applying it to The Entrepreneur’s Banker brand. This book does more than lay out a plan to establish goals and quarterly checkpoints (called “rocks”). It is the foundation of a system (The Entrepreneur’s Operating System or EOS) that ensures every single activity that your company does is supportive of your strategic vision. Everything from employee recruitment, hiring and onboarding to post-sales customer service is covered. It is awesome!

Gino starts by introducing a “simple” 2-page document called the Vision/ Traction Organizer (V/TO). Let me tell you, this document is anything but simple, as it helps to communicate to your entire team your company’s reason for being, the things that separate you from everyone else, your target customer, how you do what you do, and where you see your company in 1-, 3-, and 10-years.

What I find most compelling though are the quarterly rocks and the power that comes with measurability and accountability. They remind me a lot of the checkpoints that I would map out when I plotted a route on the old school map. They are designed to ensure that everything and everyone is not straying from the path towards vision accomplishment. Both measurability and accountability are critical. We have all seen times when an objective was not achieved because objectives were not clearly defined and/or there was more than 1 person (or worse, no one) assigned responsibility. One word of caution when assigning rocks to individuals is to be aware of the number of rocks assigned to any one person. In my experience, assigning someone more than 3 rocks leads to less than desired results.

I am also encouraged by Gino’s insight on how to approach the people component of your business. Many great leaders have opined on how the most valuable asset that entrepreneurs have is the people that work with them. However, unless you have the right person with the right skills, vision, and motivation in the right position, you will not achieve your strategic goals. Gino spends a good portion of Traction walking entrepreneurs through practical ways to assess your employees, define their roles and responsibilities, and empower them to achieve your vision.

If you have not read Traction, then I would recommend clicking HERE to vision Gino’s website and order it (and any of his other books) right now! Many of the most successful entrepreneurs that I work with use EOS in their business. I have seen first hand how it helps rapidly growing companies manage growth responsibly and profitably. This all-encompassing system allows you to share your passion with your team, align everyone’s interest to serve that passion, and close the feedback loop to ensure you move from rock to rock along the route to achieving that passion.

Being an entrepreneur is one of the most difficult and demanding things you can do. The good news is that entrepreneurship today is a team sport. Hit the connect button on LinkedIn or Facebook and together we will start maximizing your profit, strengthening your leadership skills, controlling your business finances and using your bank as a strategic advantage. 

Greg Martin is an entrepreneur’s insider to the banking industry and passionately believes that every person was uniquely designed for a higher purpose and calling. Greg guides entrepreneurs in defining and achieving their purpose and calling. His deepest passion is living life with his wife of 17 years and their wonderful son.