Confessions of an Implementer

Welcome to Confessions of an Implementer, a podcast by Talent Harbor. We share unique stories of implementers and the companies they've transformed to give you a rare glimpse into the successes and challenges of the system in action. I'm your host, Ryan Hogan.
 
Let's dive in!
 
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Jeanet Wade, EOS Implementer and author of The Human Team. Jeanet breaks down the six facets of human needs that bridge the gap between human nature and the outcomes leaders actually want, why job hopping is not a generational quirk but a signal that those needs are going unmet, and what it really means to give feedback within 24 hours and why most leaders wait far too long. She also gets into the 20 to 30 percent extra effort required to lead a remote team well, why ritualized recognition matters more than most leaders realize, and what Southwest Airlines can teach every business owner about what happens when you lose sight of the fundamentals that made you great.
Timestamps
02:17 Motivating Beyond Financial Compensation
08:04 Unlocking Potential Through Six Human Needs
14:44 Strategies for Remote Team Connection
18:55 The Value of Intentional Leadership
24:30 Addressing Retention and Cultural Turnover
32:07 Coaching and Mastering Feedback Loops
41:47 Timeliness and Consistency in Feedback
46:32 Effective Recognition and Rituals
51:08 The Pitfalls of Unnecessary Processes
58:04 Purpose, People, and Profit Balance
Guest Links
jeanet.wade@eosworldwide.com
Phone: 314-488-0791
https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/jeanet-wade/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanet-wade-ab5500/
https://www.business-alchemist.com/
https://thehumanteambook.com/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1950863328?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

Welcome to Confessions of an Implementer, a podcast by Talent Harbor. We share unique stories of implementers and the companies they've transformed to give you a rare glimpse into the successes and challenges of the system in action. I'm your host, Ryan Hogan.
 
Let's dive in!
 
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Lynda Martin, one of the earliest EOS Implementers in the community. Lynda brings a rare depth to this conversation, drawing on a master's degree in organizational design, 30-plus years of business coaching, and a career that started long before EOS had a name for what she was already doing.
 
Lynda unpacks the real history behind organizational design, why the accountability chart is its most elegant expression, why you can absolutely get results through fear, but at a cost most leaders underestimate, and what it means to lead people adult to adult instead of adult to child. She also shares the egg analogy that perfectly captures why unclear expectations destroy trust faster than bad decisions.
Timestamps
02:16 Discovering the Traction Framework
08:04 Organizational Design Principles
12:58 Leading Through Connection vs Fear
18:24 Diverse Management Approaches
22:32 Centralized vs Decentralized Authority
30:15 The Art of Clear Delegation
36:39 Delegation and Leadership Clarity
43:37 Empowering Employees and Purpose
48:11 Building a Purpose-Driven Organization
Guest Links
lynda.martin@eosworldwide.com
Phone: 404-697-5212
https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/lynda-martin/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-martin-eos/
https://www.instagram.com/lyndamartineos/

Welcome to Confessions of an Implementer, a podcast by Talent Harbor. We share unique stories of implementers and the companies they've transformed to give you a rare glimpse into the successes and challenges of the system in action. I'm your host, Ryan Hogan.
 
Let's dive in!
 
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Clay Harris, EOS Implementer and co-founder of WorkSmart, an MSP he helped build from scratch starting in 2001 with no IT background, no capital, and only one guy who actually knew how to fix computers. Over the next two decades, Clay and his partners pivoted away from a WeWork-style concept into a thriving managed services business built on monthly recurring revenue, proactive service delivery, and pricing that actually aligned everyone's interests.
 
Clay shares how the move from hourly billing to flat monthly fees changed everything, why pricing from an actuarial mindset gave WorkSmart a competitive edge that held for years, and what the MSP world can teach any service business about building a model clients want to commit to. He also gets into the danger of death by new tool, why you should stop getting sold to and start shopping against your own requirements, what partnership health actually looks like over the long haul, and how to recognize the moment a leadership team is finally ready to say the hard thing out loud.
Timestamps
05:51 Entrepreneurial Journeys and Imposter Syndrome
12:54 Evolving Managed IT Services
21:01 Recruiting as a Service Model
33:45 Managing Client Churn and Expectations
41:55 Navigating Generational and Technological Shifts
47:29 Avoiding the ‘New Tool’ Trap
52:06 Strategic Pivots and Business Risk
56:00 Partnership Dynamics and Healthy Communication
Guest Links
clay@clayharris.com
(919)452-5390
https://clayharris.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/clayharris/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-10s-podcast/id1810811928
https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/clay-harris/

Welcome to Confessions of an Implementer, a podcast by Talent Harbor. We share unique stories of implementers and the companies they've transformed to give you a rare glimpse into the successes and challenges of the system in action. I'm your host, Ryan Hogan.
 
Let's dive in!
 
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Joe Rosenbaum, EOS Implementer and former Chief Human Resources Officer who spent decades inside some of the most demanding organizations in retail, events, and consumer brands, including Authentic Brands Group. Joe brings a rare perspective to this conversation, having lived the tension between advocating for employees and protecting the business at the same time, often from the same chair.
 
Joe shares why he believes in-house HR is harder than most leaders realize and why outsourcing certain functions, particularly employee relations and internal investigations, might actually create more trust, not less. He breaks down how to use Glassdoor reviews the right way, why engagement surveys do more harm than good if you are not prepared to act on them, and what a state of the company meeting actually needs to cover to build real organizational trust. He also introduces a concept called the stay interview, which flips the typical HR script and gives leaders a window into what it would actually take to keep their best people around.
Timestamps
01:00 From Rural Roots to New York HR
06:01 Evolving Philosophy of Human Resources
11:47 Strategic HR Outsourcing and Engagement
16:19 Building Trust Through Active Listening
22:11 Navigating Glassdoor and Culture Toxicity
27:41 Strengthening Organizational Trust
33:29 Optimizing Company-Wide Meetings
43:06 The Role of Facilitation
Guest Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephrosenbaum/
https://www.instagram.com/joerosenbaum.eos/
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/josephrosenbaum_i-worked-with-a-company-that-had-eleven-service-share-7478522026840776704-DqrM/

Welcome to Confessions of an Implementer, a podcast by Talent Harbor. We share unique stories of implementers and the companies they've transformed to give you a rare glimpse into the successes and challenges of the system in action. I'm your host, Ryan Hogan.
 
Let's dive in!
 
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Andrea Schlapia, EOS Implementer and founder of Ironstone Business Coaching. Andrea has spent her career helping wealth management firms and financial advisory businesses stop running like practices and start running like real companies, and EOS gave her the framework to do it at scale.
 
Andrea shares why complexity is the single biggest thing holding businesses back from their potential, what most leadership teams get wrong about core values, how to tell the difference between a real core value and a permission to play, and why she never rolls out EOS to the broader organization until the leadership team can actually teach the tools themselves. She also introduces something completely new to this show, an offer she makes to every client to personally run a 90-minute meeting for the entire company so leadership never has to fumble through that first conversation. Plus, she breaks down how she has cracked the code on fully virtual EOS sessions and why everyone needs their own Zoom box.
 
Timestamps
07:18 Clarity and Organizational Health
10:35 Navigating Mergers with Core Values
14:26 The Art of Rolling Out Core Values
23:01 Simplifying Business Complexity
29:34 Defining Effective Scorecards
40:37 Optimizing Virtual Meeting Experiences
45:01 Maintaining Engagement in Remote Teams
Guest Links
https://ironstonehq.com/team/andrea-schlapia/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aschlapia/
https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/andrea-schlapia/

Welcome to Confessions of an Implementer, a podcast by Talent Harbor. We share unique stories of implementers and the companies they've transformed to give you a rare glimpse into the successes and challenges of the system in action. I'm your host, Ryan Hogan.
 
Let's dive in!
 
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Harrison Jenkins, an EOS Implementer who has carved out one of the most specific niches in the entire EOS community. Nearly all of Harrison's clients are independent insurance brokers, and the combination of his family's sales consulting firm, Blueprint Consulting Group, and EOS has become a powerful framework for helping those companies finally grow the way they always said they wanted to.
 
Harrison shares the difference between predicting where you want to go and simply projecting where you will end up if nothing changes; why so many insurance agencies are sitting on underperforming producers for years longer than they should; and what it really looks like to sell your vision to your team instead of just announcing it.
 
If you run an insurance agency, lead a sales team, or just want a fresh perspective on how vision and execution actually connect inside a growing business, this one delivers.
Timestamps
03:41 Vision vs. Execution & Goal Setting
07:55 Selling the Vision
16:16 Cultural Impact of Growth & Accountability
24:07 Challenges in Hiring Producers
32:57 Why Non-Producing Salespeople Persist
41:12 Comp Structure for Winners
45:52 Retaining High-Producing Brokers
51:53 Philosophy on EOS Graduation
Guest Links
https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/harrison-jenkins/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrison-jenkins-0250139b/
https://www.blueprint.biz/
harrison@blueprint.biz
harrison.jenkins@eosworldwide.com

Most entrepreneurs believe more clients solve every problem.
But the wrong clients can quietly steal your time, energy, and future.
In this conversation, Ryan Hogan sits down with EOS Implementer JBS to discuss why building a successful consulting business isn't about saying yes to every opportunity—it's about intentionally designing a business around the life you actually want.
They explore why confidence matters more than rigid frameworks, how to recognize ideal clients, why consistency always beats chasing shiny new tactics, and how personal branding becomes your greatest competitive advantage.
Topics include:
Why saying "no" creates more freedom than saying "yes"
Designing your business around your ideal life
How to identify the right clients before it's too late
Why great work naturally creates more opportunities
Building confidence beyond following a framework
Creating a personal brand that becomes your competitive moat
Because the best businesses aren't built by chasing every opportunity.
They're built by intentionally choosing the right ones.

Welcome to Confessions of an Implementer, a podcast by Talent Harbor. We share unique stories of implementers and the companies they've transformed to give you a rare glimpse into the successes and challenges of the system in action. I'm your host, Ryan Hogan.
 
Let's dive in!
 
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Beth Rusert, EOS Implementer, former communications executive, and someone who spent decades watching organizations fail not because of bad strategy, but because of broken internal communication. Beth shares why internal communication is one of the most undervalued functions in any organization, what genuine alignment actually looks like versus what it looks like when a team is just pretending, and why the failure to have tough conversations early always costs more than the conversation itself. She also gets into the difference between a team and a family, how to know when a culture fit issue is coachable versus when it's time to move on, and why EOS gave her the language for things she'd been doing her whole career without realizing it.
 
If you lead a team, own a business, or have ever avoided a hard conversation longer than you should have this one is for you.
Timestamps
03:00 The Value of Internal Communications
07:07 Good Internal Communication Defined
12:43 Team vs. Family Culture
16:25 The Art of Tough Conversations
20:00 Navigating Culture Shifts and Expectations
32:15 Effective Leadership and Sales
37:16 Leadership Beyond Subject Matter Expertise
46:08 Tiger Teams for Process Improvement
49:20 Signs of Organizational Misalignment
Guest Links
https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/beth-rusert/
beth.rusert@eosworldwide.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethrusert/

Welcome to Confessions of an Implementer, a podcast by Talent Harbor. We share unique stories of implementers and the companies they've transformed to give you a rare glimpse into the successes and challenges of the system in action. I'm your host, Ryan Hogan.
 
Let's dive in!
 
In this episode, Ryan reunites with Eliot Wajskol — EOS Implementer, former Global 1000 executive advisor, and one of only two guests to appear on the show twice — for a deep, debate-worthy conversation about the question every business leader eventually has to answer: what's more important, strategy or execution?
 
Eliot breaks down what strategy actually means at the leadership team level, why a room full of people with five different pictures in their minds is essentially five different companies, and how great strategic decisions are fundamentally acts of elimination. He shares how he diagnoses whether a leadership team is truly ready to have strategic conversations, the three signals that tell him someone doesn't belong at the table, and why he thinks EOS is really an execution operating system in disguise. Ryan and Eliot also get into the power of speed, the danger of diluting focus, and Ryan's experiment of giving every team member just one rock per quarter.
 
Whether you're running your first quarterly or rethinking your entire leadership structure, this one will make you think differently.
Timestamps
03:43 Foundational Strategy Ingredients
09:52 Team Readiness for Strategy
18:39 The Chief Decider Role
26:59 Internal vs. External Talent
36:03 Translating Strategy to a Plan
40:08 EOS as an Execution System
43:26 Strategy vs. Execution: Which Matters More?
49:30 The Undervalued Role of Speed
51:49 The Power of One Rock
Guest Links
https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/eliot-wajskol/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliotwajskol/
https://www.eliotwajskol.com/
https://www.instagram.com/eliotwajskol/
https://fiftypages.life/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGnWpXZeu9xENVfvtvoIsyfzxV9ueGyFaCqDF_oVb7sL1CCT8K6Cp2Ccmb2Rl0_aem_0k0Szq-_nZXtuiLIxprlZw

Welcome to Confessions of an Implementer, a podcast by Talent Harbor. We share unique stories of implementers and the companies they've transformed to give you a rare glimpse into the system's successes and challenges. I'm your host, Ryan Hogan.
 
Let's dive in!
 
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Mike Yoder, EOS Implementer, lifelong integrator, and self-described number 2 guy. Mike's path took him from corporate giants like Siemens to painting houses at 25 to building a $1M barcode label business, before EOS gave him the language to understand who he actually was. Mike shares a leadership framework rooted in one simple truth: care for the person you're leading. But there's a catch. He draws a sharp line between being kind and being nice, and the difference will make you rethink every tough conversation you've been avoiding.
 
If you're an entrepreneur who's ever felt stuck, wondered if you're the right person in the right seat, or just wants to lead your team better, this one's for you.
Timestamps
04:20 The Leap to Entrepreneurship
08:47 The Integrator Revelation and EOS
11:56 Lessons from Big and Small Companies
21:28 Foundational Principles of Leadership
25:32 Kindness vs. Niceness in the Workplace
33:38 Becoming Your Best Self
37:16 Developing Leaders and Attitude
Guest Links
https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/mike-yoder/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeyoder-e4g/
mike.yoder@eosworldwide.com
Phone: (816)922-9546