Are You the Bottleneck? How to Stop Sabotaging Your Own Growth

What does it take to build a company that runs itself? In this episode, Rob Levin and Chris Beer dive into the real challenges behind business growth—hint: it’s not just about hiring an integrator. Chris explains how leaders can create clarity, delegate effectively, and build a culture of ownership. They explore the roles of visionaries and integrators, the power of letting go, and how the right compensation and incentives drive engagement. From fostering a strong team culture to navigating transitions with confidence, this episode is packed with insights for leaders looking to scale without micromanaging. 

  

Key Takeaway: 

Chris Beer shares valuable insights for business owners facing challenges like role confusion and lack of process documentation. Many think they need an integrator, but the real issue is missing clarity and structure. 

She explains how the EOS framework helps define roles, with the Integrator partnering with the Visionary (CEO), and LMA (Leading, Managing, and Holding Accountable) shaping leadership. Delegation is key to success, along with a shared understanding of the company’s vision and values. 

Financial transparency and performance incentives boost engagement, while clear roles and processes foster ownership. Creating a positive, joyful work environment and taking ownership during tough times empowers teams to succeed. 

 

Questions I ask Chris:   

[01:36] – Is the stated problem different from the real problem? 

[03:59] – What are the roles of an Integrator and LMA in a company? 

[05:58] –  How can owners do a better job in terms of making their dreams come true, making their goals a reality or set another way? 

[07:32] – What are people missing when it comes to readiness? 

[11:11] – How should companies approach compensation and incentives? 

[12:24] – How can leaders foster ownership within their teams? 

[13:41] – Does an ownership mentality start at the top, or can it be nurtured at all levels? 

[17:19] – What strategies help manage transitions effectively? 

 

More About Chris Beer:  

Check out Wizard of Ops®. 

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn. 

 

More About Rob Levin  & WorkBetterNow: 

Like this show? Click on over and subscribe to our YouTube channel! 

Follow Rob Levin on LinkedIn. 

Visit WorkBetterNow.com 

📥 Download the free worksheet for this episode HERE and subscribe so you never miss an episode! 

Episode Transcript

Chris Beer (00:00):
And I think that, all comes down to an intention to let go, because you can hire someone to say, document all your processes, you can hire someone to do a complete reorg, you can hire that great right-hand man or woman to be your Integrator but if you don't want to let that go, and there's a lot going on psychologically, if you're afraid to let go, a lot of that just comes with some soul-seeking and saying

(00:01):
Subscribe now to never miss an episode. For more resources, visit GreatTalentPodcast. com, where you can download this episode's free worksheet designed to help you apply today's insight to your business. And now, here's your host, Rob Levin.
It's 100%. I'll skip to the second question. It's never the, when they call, it's never the stated problem. You always need to dive a little bit deeper and just be open to listening, but I would say that so often, it comes down to either people issues or process issues and more specifically with people issues, it's people not understanding what the expectations are of them and how to get there.
Quite often it's addition instead of, maybe just thinking of, have we put things in the right places? Have we put the right resources in the hands of people? So quite often it's looking, I get a lot of calls
Oh, absolutely. So, those are EOS® terms and again, Entrepreneurial Operating System, and a lot of my clients work with this framework and, an Integrator is someone who, partners with the Visionary of the company and Visionary, let's think CEO, so the person with the big ideas, the person who's looking, scanning the field and kind of doing research on the world and just thinking what's missing, they caught that person often has some great strategic relationships. They have all of these things percolating, but they need the get it done guy or gal, and that's what the
and LMA is, Leading Managing and holding Accountable and so quite often, we tend to think of those things as 1 action, but they're actually really quite different, and there's a lot that can be said in terms of empowering leaders versus just merely making them do stuff.
Absolutely, and I think that, all that you just asked comes down to an intention to let go, because you can do all of the things to start the brilliance and the great ideas and all that, but that readiness needs to be there. And that's described in the book Rocket Fuel, where you need to have the financial readiness and the emotional readiness, you need to want to give things up.

Rob Levin (00:07):
You have the readiness in place, right? You're ready. What's the next step? And what are, I guess, another way of asking this or what are a lot of people missing?

Chris Beer (00:08):
So I thought, apparently, according to the rule book, if you land directly on the go square, you get $400. Instead of fun and suing, stop the game, let's pull out the rule book, let's disagree. I think that it's essential for a team to go far and to have a good time and have fun and accomplish more together, it's essential to establish what are the rules of the game? And that goes to the EOS® framework. It can go to any business operating system, but essentially what's our vision for this company?
That's where I get really passionate, again, the EOS® framework is my tool of choice, but as long as you have tools to move that vision forward, I think that's what you really need to zone in on.
I'm a huge fan of transparency with numbers, I will have the caveat with transparency of numbers. You need to have the prereq of giving people an understanding of what those numbers mean, it's one thing to say, hey, Rob had a 10 million a year and have people think, oh, wow, he's driving home on a brinks truck.
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I think a lot of people skip that step. We were talking before we started recording here about Strategic Coach, and they have this very powerful tool called the Impact Filter, which can help with that. But, that's being very clear. Is there something else that you need to do to get people to really have that ownership mentality?
And thinking about how can these teams get connected to one goal and how can they almost gamify, examples of little ways, little wins to move that, move that vision forward. So in his example, he, and this is back when they had paid parking meters where you'd pay with quarters, but, when someone would come into the house, come into the restaurant, they would ask how you got here.
Did you achieve your numbers? Did you do what you're supposed to do? Check. Did you stay out of trouble? These are opportunities to go above and beyond, and quite often those opportunities to go above and beyond and really wow your customer. Those can come, I mean, that comes from everywhere in the organization.

Rob Levin (00:15):
And I think it makes things more fun, right? Yeah, like you're going to go home at the end of the day and say, you're just going to go home with a smile on your face because you put a smile on face and on other people

Chris Beer (00:16):
So a couple things I'm thinking of an example of, say, a company that's grown too fast.
It shows humility, no, no one's perfect; painful to go through times like this, so it's important to recognize that and also give as much, as much security that you can. That is truthful. So if you are truly in a dire turnaround situation and people are, oh, my God, do I need to update my indeed, what is happening here, give them as much security as you can. That again is truthful and also point to the metrics that they can, they can impact and they can monitor to feel that security.
All right. So I live on the internet, for everybody I'm at wizardofops.net, but one of the things I'm most proud of is a YouTube channel that I've been building over the last couple of years. The handle is Wizard of Ops®, and you will find all sorts of quick videos that just give my reflection on how to use EOS® tools in a day to day basis in companies of all sizes. I think that all of these tools are a practice and one little, if anyone's ever had a coach of any sort, just one little shift of your body, of your mindset can make such a difference. So I hope that those quick little, I call them little leadership bites.