Gino Wickman is the creator of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a comprehensive business system that helps entrepreneurs get what they want from their businesses. Through his books, particularly "Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business," Wickman has shared a wealth of practical advice and insightful principles for achieving business success.
On Vision and Focus
A clear vision is the starting point for gaining traction.
- "Vision without traction is merely hallucination."[1][2][3][4] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Clarify your vision and you will make better decisions about people, processes, finances, strategies, and customers."[1][2][5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "The more clearly everyone can see your vision, the likelier you are to achieve it."[3][4] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Entrepreneurs must get their vision out of their heads and down onto paper."[6] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "People need to hear the vision seven times before they really hear it for the first time."[1][5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Focus everyone's energy toward one thing and amazing results will follow."[3] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Find your core focus, stick to it, and devote your time and resources to excelling at it."[1][2][5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Decide what business you are in and be in that business."[3] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
On People
Having the right people in the right seats is crucial for success.
- "Life is much easier for everyone when you have people around you who genuinely get it, want it, and have the capacity to do it."[1][2][4][5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "The right people are the ones who share your company's core values."[4] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "You must always hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize with your Core Values in mind."[1][2] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "You'll be faced with two types of issues regarding your people. The first is having the right person in the wrong seat. The second is having the wrong person in the right seat."[1][5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "If you're truly going to commit to building a great company...you must prepare for change on your leadership team."[1][5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "A common mistake entails creating a structure to accommodate people you don't like or don't want to lose."[3] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "When more than one person is accountable, nobody is."[5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "The 'GWC' (Get it, Want it, Capacity to do it) framework is used to assess team members' fit within their roles."[7] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
On The Visionary and Integrator Relationship
The dynamic duo that drives entrepreneurial success.
- "One sees the future, and the other makes it happen."[1][2][8] - Rocket Fuel
- "An Integrator is a person who has the Unique Ability® to harmoniously integrate the major functions of the business, run the organization, and manage the day-to-day issues that arise."[8] - Rocket Fuel
- "The Integrator is the glue that holds the people, processes, systems, priorities, and strategy of the company together."[1] - Rocket Fuel
- "A Visionary is meant to be a Visionary, and an Integrator is meant to be an Integrator. You are either one or the other, rarely both."[9] - Rocket Fuel
On Process and Systems
Creating consistency and scalability.
- "There are three stages in documenting your Way. First, identify your core processes. Then break down what happens in each one and document it. Finally, compile the information into a single package for everyone in your company."[2][5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "If you have 50 people doing everything 50 different ways, the increased complexity leads to mass chaos."[1] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Even talented leaders can't be effective without first settling on a single operating system for their company."[3] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is a holistic framework comprised of practical tools and concepts that can be applied to various aspects of business management.[7] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
On Issues and Problem Solving
Tackling challenges head-on.
- "Clearly identify the real issue, because the stated problem is rarely the real one."[1][5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Problems are like mushrooms: When it's dark and rainy, they multiply."[2] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Just as an individual's success is directly proportionate to their ability to solve any issues that arise, the same holds true for a company."[3] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "The better you are at solving problems, the more successful you become."[6] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
On Data and Scorecards
Running your business on facts, not feelings.
- Without hard data, you'll be running your business on subjective opinion and impulses.[10] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- Develop a scorecard to have a pulse on your operations by watching and managing a handful of numbers on a weekly basis.[11][12] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
On Rocks and Priorities
Focusing on the most important things.
- "You will establish the three to seven most important priorities for the company, the ones that must be done in the next 90 days. Those priorities are called Rocks."[1][5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "When everything is important, nothing is important."[1][3][5] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "90 days is about as long as a human being can stay focused."[6] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Assign who owns each Rock. This is vital for clear accountability."[6] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
On the Entrepreneurial Mindset
The characteristics and disciplines of successful entrepreneurs.
- "Entrepreneurs solve problems for a profit."[13] - Entrepreneurial Leap
- "If you cannot risk, you cannot grow. If you cannot grow, you cannot become your best. If you cannot become your best, you cannot be happy. If you cannot be happy, what else matters?"[1][2][3] - Entrepreneurial Leap
- "True entrepreneurs possess six essential, innate traits: visionary, passionate, problem solver, driven, risk taker, and responsible (blame no one)."[13] - Entrepreneurial Leap
- "Being an entrepreneur is not something you become – it's something you are. It's in your DNA."[14] - Entrepreneurial Leap
- "It takes twenty years to become an overnight success."[13] - Entrepreneurial Leap
- "Know thyself."[13] - Entrepreneurial Leap
- "Passionate people suffer for their cause."[15] - Entrepreneurial Leap
- "Don't mistake activity for productivity."[1][2][6][8] - Rocket Fuel
- "Creativity is productivity—it just doesn't feel like it at first."[1][2] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Most people are sitting on their own diamond mines."[1][2][5][6] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
On Leadership and Growth
Guiding your organization to the next level.
- "As leaders, you'll need to stop working in the business 100% of the time and work on the business every so often instead."[3] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Most leaders know that bringing discipline and accountability to the organization will make people a little uncomfortable...What usually holds an organization back is the fear of creating this discomfort."[1][5][6] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "If someone walks in with a monkey, they need to walk out with it."[3] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "Seek out mentors and advisors who can guide you along the way."[14] - Entrepreneurial Leap
- "If you try to please everyone, you're going to lose your ass."[3] - Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
- "In the end...Live your ideal life by doing what you love, working with who you love, and making an impact."[16] - Entrepreneurial Leap
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