From corporate executive to EOS implementer: Bill Stratton's journey

Executive overview

Bill Stratton spent 25 years in manufacturing leadership, growing a company from $13M to $115M, before discovering EOS through a Vistage speaker and transforming his business with it. The experience was compelling enough that he left to become a certified implementer himself.

EOS gave his team the tools to run disciplined meetings, surface root causes, and ultimately pivot their entire business model — a decision that doubled the company after he left.

When a team is struggling and hungry for solutions, EOS adoption is fast; the harder work is sustaining the right people in the right seats.

Building the leadership career

• Joined a small Lancaster-area adhesives manufacturer in 1986; stayed 25+ years
• Grew the business from $13M to $115M, expanding from national to global operations
• Ran a $25M division and led lean transformation, procurement, and scheduling
• Joined Vistage as a member; developed an appetite for peer learning and structured business thinking
• Took CEO role at Inclinator Company of America in 2014 — a 95-year-old family-owned elevator manufacturer losing money
• Negotiated Vistage CE group membership into his employment contract, knowing he'd need peer support

Discovering EOS and transforming Inclinator

• Received a copy of Get a Grip from a Vistage speaker (Rosie Rosenberg) in May 2016
• Called EOS Worldwide, got a 90-minute meeting with implementer Hank O'Donnell, and committed within two days
• Implementation began September 2016 with the leadership team and spread company-wide
• The team used Level 10 meetings and IDS (Identify, Discuss, Solve) to tackle a persistent sales decline
• Root cause: the wholesale dealer model was being undercut by competitors selling direct to builders
• Proposed and won board approval to form a new direct-installation division — the money was in installation and service, not manufacturing
• Launched with one van and one trailer; the company now runs 13 and has doubled in size

Why the board approved a controversial pivot

• One board member's personal business interests conflicted with the proposed new model
• The leadership team — not Bill alone — presented the proposal; preparation and alignment made the difference
• The board had been given VTO updates each quarter, so they understood the context
• Board generally supportive but didn't want to pay for an EOS implementer; Bill used his spending authority and proceeded

The three things that scaled Bill as a CEO

• Business operating system (EOS): structured how the team ran and made decisions
• Coach: Rick Oppenheimer provided individual accountability and perspective
• Peer group (Vistage CE): other CEOs tackling similar challenges
• All three were in place simultaneously at Inclinator — Bill credits this combination for the company's turnaround

What Bill sees across all his clients

• The single most common leverage point: getting the right people in the right seats
• When teams take this seriously, results follow quickly — cohesion, number-hitting, energy
• One transferred client finally placed a strong integrator and the right operations lead; the shift was immediate
• Right people, right seats is never fully solved — people dynamics are always in motion

The one thing Bill wishes clients got right sooner

• Writing effective rocks (90-day priorities) from the very first Focus Day
• Common mistakes: too vague, too aspirational, or too many to realistically complete in 90 days
• Teams often don't yet share a clear enough picture of where they're going to know which rocks move the needle
• The learning curve is normal — Bill coaches through it — but faster mastery accelerates everything