Greg Polley is a Professional EOS Implementer based in the Washington, D.C. area, serving clients nationwide and virtually. Before becoming an implementer two years ago, Greg spent nearly a decade as a federal lobbyist and Capitol Hill staffer, followed by eight years as an Integrator at a security firm in Memphis, where he first experienced the power of the visionary-integrator dynamic. He later worked at a 150-person software company running on EOS, which sparked his passion for the system. Greg now helps entrepreneurial companies implement EOS and build healthier, more accountable organizations.
We spoke with Greg about his path to becoming an implementer, what makes EOS work, and why the right tools matter for execution.
Table of Contents
- You worked as an integrator before you even knew what EOS was. What was that experience like?
- What do you think would have been different if you’d had EOS and an implementer back then?
- What made you decide to become an implementer?
- What’s the EOS Implementer community like?
- You mentioned EOS felt action-oriented. What does that look like in practice?
- What kinds of businesses work well with EOS?
- Can you share an example of a moment when EOS really clicked for a team?
- What differences do you see between companies that self-implement versus those that work with an implementer?
- Which EOS tools do you see people struggle with most?
- What are the red flags that tell you a company might not be ready for EOS?
- For teams that are committed, what helps them stay on track between sessions?
- What made you start recommending Strety specifically?
- What feedback do you hear from integrators using Strety?
You worked as an integrator before you even knew what EOS was. What was that experience like?
I was at a small family security firm in Memphis for about eight years. The owner and I had this integrator-visionary relationship without realizing it — that Rocket Fuel dynamic.
While we worked together, the business doubled. We really strengthened the core, worked on business processes, marketing, hiring, all the things you do in EOS without really knowing you’re doing it. We used some Rockefeller Habits, some Lencioni stuff.
Later, when I was searching for my next challenge, somebody gave me the book Rocket Fuel. I was like, oh my gosh, I’ve already done this. When that relationship works and clicks and you respect each other’s boundaries, it really does work. That’s when EOS started to resonate with me.
What do you think would have been different if you’d had EOS and an implementer back then?
It took us four or five years to figure all that out — having those conversations: what’s our vision, what do we really want to do, who are our best customers, who’s our target market. If we’d had EOS and an implementer working with us, we could have done it in six months to a year. We would have accelerated that much faster.
That’s the beauty of the implementation days. You sit in a room and you’re forced to talk to each other about what you really do and who your real target market is. For most companies, that doesn’t happen in a structured way. Maybe people figure it out over time, but with EOS we can do that in two days. You’re wasting more time by not spending that time at the beginning, because it’s just going to bleed out and take you longer to get there.
What made you decide to become an implementer?
Later on, I was at a software company, about 150 people, and they were running on EOS. They had the software, the Level 10 meetings, and I was running the executive team L10. I was like, this is amazing. If we could run every business this way — just the way EOS dealt with issues and handled problems and moved toward solving them — it was very action oriented. That really sparked something in me.
I started reading Traction, What the Heck is EOS?, How to Be a Great Boss, just consuming all those books. Then I found out you could become a full-time EOS Implementer. I discovered the community, and the rest is history.
What’s the EOS Implementer community like?
Everybody is willing to help. It’s not an exclusive community. It’s not clubby. People ask, “Hey Greg, what do you need? How can I help you be better for your clients?” Everybody shares best practices and business development ideas and nuggets for sessions and facilitation.
There’s a servant mindset — people are affirming that you’re going to get through this, you’re doing the best you can for your clients. We have quarterly collaborative exchanges where we get together, and there’s a Slack channel where you can ask any question about anything EOS and somebody’s going to help. There’s an abundance mindset. We’re not competing against each other. We want to see everybody grow and thrive.
You mentioned EOS felt action-oriented. What does that look like in practice?
The biggest piece is accountability. We’ve all been in meetings where, “Hey, Samantha, you’re gonna go do this.” Great. Never hear about it again. Or six months later, we’re like, “Hey, Samantha, weren’t you gonna take care of that?”
In EOS, you walk away with an action item. It’s assigned to you. We’re gonna hear back next week about how you solved that.
Open communication too — I don’t think I’d ever been in a place where there was such structured communication. Everyone working together, talking about the things that matter, dealing with issues through IDS. Most organizations don’t have those hard conversations.
EOS is a people operating system. Once you get people actually communicating with each other and solving real problems and not afraid to have a little bit of conflict and move through things and build trust — that’s the magic of EOS.
What kinds of businesses work well with EOS?
I have a client who’s a regenerative farm. They read Traction, they’re super excited, and they’re trying to run on EOS. I have a client who’s a blockchain startup trying to raise $100 million.
The kind of business doesn’t matter as much: this is a people operating system. My qualifications when I’m talking to a new client are: do you want to do this? Are you going to commit to EOS?
EOS is a gym membership. You’re going to pay for the membership, but if you just take your card and sit at home on the couch and not do anything with it, it’s not going to work. You got to go in there and work out. You got to be disciplined. You got to show up every day.
Can you share an example of a moment when EOS really clicked for a team?
One of the best compliments I got from a client — he said, “Greg, that was the first time I’ve seen anybody in my organization raise their hand and volunteer to do something.”
We had just done a Focus Day. A lot of visionaries and entrepreneurs think it’s all up to them, and they’ve never figured out how to communicate to their team that they need help. But once we go through that process, setting goals, figuring out accountability, people want to step up. They want to contribute. They want to build value. Giving them the opportunity to see that is super helpful.
What differences do you see between companies that self-implement versus those that work with an implementer?
I had a nonprofit client who’d been self-implementing. They wanted me to come do a one-day annual review kind of thing. We got in there, I started with the basics, kind of went over some stuff as we went through IDS and the issues.
Then they kept calling — can you come do a quarterly? Now we have our fourth meeting scheduled. They’d missed some of the main things. They didn’t do Vision Building Day One, didn’t do Vision Building Day Two.
I’ve really encouraged them to do those two days just for the fact that they’re going to sit in a room and agree on their vision. I tell clients, even if you think you have a perfect V/TO, you will benefit from spending those three days talking about your vision, making sure you’re using the tools correctly. Stuff’s going to come out, there’s going to be disagreements. You’re wasting more time by not spending that time at the beginning.
Which EOS tools do you see people struggle with most?
Rock setting is very hard. It seems simple — oh, we’ll just set goals for the quarter. But we’ll get to the quarterly meeting, it’ll be two partners, and they’ll disagree on whether a Rock is done or not. One says, yeah, it’s done. The other one’s like, no, it’s not done. Now I have to dig in on the outcome — we’re going to be sitting here in 90 days, so how do we agree that this is done?
The Level 10 Meeting is another one — being really disciplined about those time boxes. People think, oh, that’s too strict, we don’t have time to chat about our weekend. I tell people, have a happy hour on Friday for that. The L10 is for execution.
But if I had to pick the most challenging one, it’s the Accountability Chart. That’s what people struggle with most, especially from a self-implementation standpoint. It’s the hardest conversation to have without a third-party facilitator, because it’s everybody’s personalities and feelings and years of hurt or whatever in the business.
We talk about structure first, people second. People hire Samantha because she’s got a great personality, she’s a hard worker. But do you have a seat for Samantha? Are her roles defined? Does she know exactly what she’s doing every day? Or are you putting this great person into a vague position where they’ll probably burn out?
I tell teams: building your Accountability Chart structure-first is for the greater good. This is how you’re going to serve your clients better. How do we provide maximum clarity so we know who is responsible for what? Most people get it when you frame it that way.
What are the red flags that tell you a company might not be ready for EOS?
Number one is the visionary who doesn’t want to let go. That’s really hard, because it takes a lot of self-knowledge for a visionary to get to a point where they admit, “I can’t do all this on my own, I need to start delegating.”
Typically, that’s who invites us in. But you meet visionaries where everything’s plugged into their head and they don’t want to let go of that. They want to stay in control of everything, writing all the checks. If they’re not ready to delegate and elevate, it doesn’t work.
The other piece is commitment — people who seem excited but when it gets down to it, they’re not putting in the work, not doing their L10s, not updating their Rocks. Those tend to flame out.
For teams that are committed, what helps them stay on track between sessions?
My teams that have tried to execute EOS on spreadsheets or by paper — it’s just not the same as using a truly collaborative tool to track your implementation. When it’s on a spreadsheet or somebody’s laptop, it’s somebody else’s meeting. One person really has to manage it alone.
When you run EOS with a platform like Strety, there’s collaboration and an open format for the rest of the team. That’s EOS — it’s not run by the visionary, it’s not run by the integrator. The leadership team has to buy in.
When I was at that software firm, we had 150 people all in the EOS platform, all pushing issues up and down between leadership team meetings and departmental meetings. It was so organized. If you don’t have that, it’s going to become the CEO’s meeting, not everybody’s meeting. You need the engagement level that a tool like Strety gives you.
I tell clients: can you get into your EOS software before we start on Focus Day? It makes a difference from day one.
What made you start recommending Strety specifically?
One of my first clients was in another platform and just didn’t find it helpful — several bugs, and they were a software development firm, so it was a big deal to them.
I said, there’s this other product called Strety, why don’t we try that? Next meeting, they’re like, “This is so much better. It integrates with so many other platforms, the team is so much more responsive.” They’d already sent in ideas for improvements. That really convinced me.
I refer my clients to Strety because you guys are client-focused, open to integrating with other platforms, and you allow clients to make suggestions for things they might need. Knowing I have a partner that’s going to make me look good matters.
I also refer people who aren’t clients — maybe they’re not quite ready for a full implementation, maybe they want to stick with self-implementation for the moment. Strety provides the EOS tools in an intuitive way that lets people get familiar and start to get value.
What feedback do you hear from integrators using Strety?
I was just out to lunch with an integrator from one of my first clients. They actually spun off another business — EOS gave them so much clarity that they were able to spin a business out of their current business. He was just talking about how Strety is so much better organized, so much more responsive. They’d been in another platform that would spool and not update. I don’t hear complaints because it’s working. If I heard about it, it would be because somebody’s complaining. That’s a good sign.