The unsung heroes of EOS with Sara B. Stern
Episode description
Sara Stern joins me on the podcast this week to talk about family businesses and how they can tackle EOS as organizations. Sometimes family businesses can be tricky, but they also can be creative and rewarding when using the right EOS tools to tackle their issues.
Links to find Sara:
Transcription below (some typos might exist..):
[00:00:00] Sara: [00:00:00] any company that runs on EOS, uses it, meaning, we get really clear about what their core values are and the core values in any company that runs on EOS. Are all about what makes you a unique place to work. And it's when you hire and fire and review and reward and recognize your people according to your core values that builds that culture.
Yeah. My favorite core value that a family business had was that they are seriously silly. That was one of their core values. And it was absolutely true. They were very good at the work they do. And they took it very serious seriously, but they're also completely hilarious goofballs. and that came directly out of the founder of that family business.
There was a third generation or a second generation getting ready to run it. And that came directly out of the personality of the founder of that. And that's one of the things that I think is really amazing when family businesses use EOS is that core values conversation. Isn't some sort of [00:01:00] weird.
Corporate culture, yucky thing it's looking at, who are we? Who have we always been? Who will we always be? And that almost always points back to a founder and the kind of people that dug in to help found that business and the kind of values that person has passed down through generations. That's really fun. Keerstyn: [00:01:56] Welcome to the podcast, Sarah. I am so excited that you're here today.
Do [00:02:00] you want to give us a brief intro of how you got involved in your work and what you do now?
Sara: [00:02:04] Sure. almost 20 years ago, I became a certified coach, back in the days when I would tell people I was a coach and they'd say, Do you coach tennis? what kind of coach are you? So it was very early on in those days.
The, reason I became a coaches because I wanted to have a huge, positive impact in the world. And once upon a time thought that way being a doctor or a teacher or something, and then realized working with business owners is the way that made the most sense for me, that over time turned into doing some work with coaching at target.
With leaders there and their headquarters, and then led to me working with the owners of family businesses. And from there, I became an EOS implementer and for five years have been doing that. And part of that work includes, teaching them. So back to the, being a teacher, I got to do that a little bit, but also coaching [00:03:00] them and facilitating really tough conversations that they have.
And I'm from that is from some new work I'm doing as well. Helping family businesses really understand the big picture of what it takes to have a strong family business, and bring in the advisors that they need. and that business is called the Sage pages.
Keerstyn: [00:03:19] So it's cool. I guess one of the first questions I have is what makes a family business EOS implementer a bit different than just a EOS business implementer?
Sara: [00:03:31] I'd say, I probably going to say it's just two things. I really implement EOS purely. I don't do it differently than any other EOS implementer. I guess the two things that make me probably different is one. I just have a big passion for family business. So that's where I spend my time and energy and marketing and the world I know the most about.
And then I might also say I'm probably a little more strict about, some of the tools. Then [00:04:00] maybe another EOS implementer. I think there's people in the world who think, Oh, it's a family business. We can be okay with it. The entire leadership team being family members, whether or not they're actually skilled, to be in that role.
And I'm probably a little bit. Less okay. With that. Maybe I'm guessing because I really take it seriously that the leadership team should be absolutely the right people in the right seat.
but I think I might bring a little bit more strictness or. Or confidence or stories I'm making the argument that really is the right way to do it for your family business, even though it might hurt feelings.
Keerstyn: [00:04:36] Yeah, absolutely. Do you want to tell one of those stories of why it's important to have different people in different seats instead of just your entire family on the top of the C suite?
Oh my
Sara: [00:04:48] gosh. Do we have all day? Yeah, I'd love to here's one of them, it was a family business. dad was third generation, two sons, two fourth [00:05:00] generation sons. In the business, working in the business, one fourth generation son had no interest in a fourth generation daughter was not interested either.
the kind of running assumption was that one of those sons would run the business. meaning he would sit in that integrator seat, as we started working on their org chart, which we call the accountability charts, it just became really obvious that this other key leader in the business who was not a relative, not a member of the family at all, was the person uniquely skilled to take that role. it ended up being a very deep conversation, with that family member.
Actually being really moved and crying in the session being touched that the family would trust him in this case, him, to run that, to run their business, that had their name on the door. And what also came out of, it was a huge sigh of relief for the next generation members. Who'd grown up their whole [00:06:00] lives.
wondering which one would run the business. And wondering if they were really capable or interested in doing it. So it was a really powerful the day we decided that, and that was now almost three years ago, that business is thriving and the family members are thriving in the positions where they ended up being.
And I will say actually only one of the sons stayed in the business. The other one realized it wasn't the right place for him, but they're all now in careers and in jobs that they're thriving in. And the non family member who's sitting in that key role is also thriving. So absolutely the right choice for them.
Keerstyn: [00:06:38] Yeah, absolutely. So what are some of those things that. Get these family members or just these businesses in general from like we're really struggling. We should talk to an EOS implementer. What are some of those pains that they're feeling? And you mentioned a few already, but on average would I buy?
Sara: [00:06:56] Yeah, I would say most of the ones that come to me [00:07:00] are, the owning generation or the generation that's leading it, which might be first or second or third generation. Coming to realize, Oh my goodness, this next generation of my family wants to come in here and we don't know where they fit. Where should they be?
what should their role be? That's almost always a way a family business, comes to me other times. It might be, Oh, we're just not growing anymore. Profits are struggling. Of course, many businesses profits are struggling right now. it might also be that they've become a flavor of the month business where.
The leadership is like, Oh, read this book and then they try something for a little while and then r...