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right people before process

Most Entrepreneurs Have This Backwards: The Key to Scaling Without Chaos

May 20, 2025• Issues, People, Process

Too many entrepreneurs get this backwards.

They dive headfirst into fixing processes, thinking a few more SOPs will solve their headaches. And sure, processes matter—but only if you have the right people first.

Because here’s the real problem: Most entrepreneurs try to solve people problems with process.

I made this mistake myself. I built an insanely detailed, 1,000-page SOP manual—covering every possible scenario—only to realize no one used it. It was obsolete before the ink dried.

Why? Because process never fixes the wrong people.

Right People, Right Seats—Then Process

Jim Collins got it right in Good to Great: Get the right people in the right seats first.

  • Right person? Aligned with your core values and mission.
  • Right seat? Competent, skilled, and capable of executing.

When you have a team that’s aligned with your values and purpose, they instinctively fill process gaps the way you would as a founder. They don’t need a 1,000-page manual because they already understand where you’re going.

Process should serve your vision—not the other way around.

People First, Process Second

Here’s how it works:

    1. Your vision defines your company’s direction and long-term goals.
    2. Your missions (defined on your Next Level Accountability Chart®) clarify what each seat is responsible for.
    3. Your core values ensure the right people are in those seats.
    4. Only then do you refine process to support it all.

This allows you to build simpler, much more effective processes. When you’ve got a team full of Right People that are values and mission aligned, you don’t have to document every possible scenario—this is impossible anyway. You simply document the high-level processes that must be followed, and your Right People will have the latitude to personalize the inevitable in-between situations that they encounter. This leads to not only more effective processes, but more ownership of results and a higher level of employee engagement and retention.

Get this right, and process documentation stops feeling like a chore. Instead, it becomes an energizing tool that enhances performance and accelerates results.

At Next Level Growth, we help entrepreneurs stop the madness of over-processing their way out of people problems. Because when you start with who first, your business runs smoother, scales faster, and gives you back control.

Ready to get the right people in the right seats and finally scale without chaos?

Schedule a discovery call and start building your elite team today.

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Accountability with a team when climbing

Your Organization’s Accountability Is Broken—Here’s How to Fix It

March 18, 2025• Issues, People, Process

Brace yourself. This might sting.

  • You rate your leadership team as A-players… but at the same time you wouldn’t enthusiastically rehire most of your employees.
  • You think you’re holding people accountable… but deep down, you know expectations are vague and accountability is weak.
  • You’re frustrated with your team’s performance… but you haven’t clearly defined success for each role.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

The Leadership Accountability Gap

A new client of ours rated their leadership team as A-players—scoring them a 4.8 out of 5.

But when asked, “Would you enthusiastically rehire everyone on your team?”

They gave it a 1.2.

Let that sink in.

If leadership is so great, why would they rebuild their team from scratch if given the chance?

The answer? Accountability is broken.

The First Obsession of Elite Leaders

At Next Level Growth, we teach that every leader must own their first obsession:

➡ Lead. Manage. Retain. Hold people accountable.

Most leadership teams fail at this because they assume their team knows what success looks like. They don’t.

Here’s how you fix it:

    1. Clearly communicate what the mission for each seat is. You can do this in one sentence, identifying where the goal line for each seat.
    2. Define success in one measurable outcome per role. If they don’t know their #1 result, they’re guessing—and so are you.  We call this the Most Critical Outcome® or MCO™.
    3. Clarify the obsessions that drive that outcome. What specifically should they focus on daily? Without clarity, execution crumbles.
    4. Communicate expectations relentlessly. If you haven’t repeated it ten times, they probably haven’t heard it once.
    5. Generate agreement.  You can’t hold someone accountable for an expectation.  You can only hold them accountable if they agree to the expectation.

When you nail this, something powerful happens: Your team starts delivering. And suddenly, that second question—“Would you enthusiastically rehire them?”—gets a different answer.

As Dr. Jordan Peterson says, “Enabling failure is not a noble cause.”

Let’s Fix Your Accountability Problem

Your business will never scale if accountability is soft. At Next Level Growth, we help leadership teams install the systems and clarity they need to finally get results—without the frustration.

If you’re ready to build a high-performance, accountable team, let’s talk.

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