EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) is a powerful system. It brings order to chaos, aligns teams, and helps leaders focus on what matters most. But here’s the part that gets glossed over: it only works if your leaders are ready. And in a lot of companies, they’re not.
Tools like LMA — Lead, Manage, and hold Accountable — sound great in theory, but they fall flat when your managers don’t know how to actually lead, manage, or hold anyone accountable. Without well-developed leaders, LMA becomes just another expectation with no real direction behind it.
At The Metiss Group, we help companies close that gap. We develop leaders using our Leadership Essentials Playbook™, built around eight core practices every leader needs to succeed.
In this article, we’ll break down why LMA isn’t enough on its own and what your team really needs to make it work.
LMA Sounds Simple. But Simple Isn’t Always Easy.
EOS gives you the framework: leaders need to lead, manage, and hold people accountable. It's painted as the trifecta of people leadership.
The thing is, this EOS framework assumes you already know how to do all three. It assumes you walked into your role with a deep toolbox of people skills, coaching strategies, and maybe a little emotional intelligence to top it off.
Spoiler alert: most folks don’t.
They were great at the job, so they got promoted. Or they’ve been around long enough that someone figured, “Well, they must know how to lead people by now.” So they’re told to LMA — but no one ever taught them how.
It’s like being handed a professional chef’s knife and told to go make beef Wellington. Cool idea, but if you’ve only ever made frozen pizza, things are gonna get messy fast.
The LMA Breakdown: What’s Missing?
Let’s break it down.
Lead: Sounds inspirational, right? But what does that mean in the middle of a Tuesday when your team’s behind, morale’s low, and someone just handed in their notice? Leading isn’t about pep talks. It’s about clarity, consistency, and setting the tone even when things feel wobbly.
Manage: This one trips people up. Managing isn’t about micromanaging. It’s about setting expectations, communicating clearly, and giving real-time feedback that actually sticks. Most managers don’t do this well—not because they don’t care, but because they never learned how.
Hold Accountable: Holding someone accountable often means having a difficult conversation. And if your go-to move is “hope they just fix it on their own,” you’re not alone. Conflict is uncomfortable. Accountability done wrong feels harsh. Done right, and it builds trust, but again — you need the skills.
EOS tells you to do all this, but it doesn’t show you how. That’s the problem.
LMA Isn’t the Problem. It’s the Floor, Not the Ceiling.
To be clear, we’re not here to dunk on EOS. LMA is a solid structure. The issue is using structure without support.
LMA isn’t a leadership development plan. It’s a starting point. It gives you the categories. But if your leaders don’t know how to lead, manage, or hold accountable, they’re stuck. You’re handing them the expectations without giving them the playbook.
And that’s where the real damage creeps in. Because now they feel like they’re failing. You feel like they’re underperforming. And the gap keeps widening.
So What Do You Do?
This is where The Metiss Group steps in. If your team’s already running on EOS, you’ve got a great framework. But a structure without skill is like a car without gas. That’s where most managers stall out — and that’s where we help them shift gears.
Our Leadership Essentials Playbook™ takes LMA and brings it to life. We teach your leaders how to lead, manage, and hold people accountable using eight foundational leadership practices that drive real change. These aren’t feel-good theories; they’re practical, repeatable behaviors managers can actually use in real conversations, with real people, in real time.
We walk your leaders through how to:
- Empower your direct reports with proven delegation techniques
- Give feedback that is frequent, timely, and specific to all team members
- Prioritize personal development
- Focus on relationship-building during one-on-one meetings
- Communicate expectations with a job scorecard
- Give timely performance reviews
- Align individual goals with company goals
- Make a plan for team succession
These eight practices aren’t bells and whistles. They’re the foundation of good leadership. And once your managers learn them, they stop guessing. They stop reacting. They start leading with purpose.
We give them the tools, language, and reps to turn LMA from a checkbox into a habit. So the next time they hear “Lead, Manage, and hold Accountable,” they don’t just nod — they know exactly what they need to do when someone’s performance is slipping and the conversation can’t wait.
Tired of Watching Leaders Tread Water?
If you’re relying on LMA and still not seeing growth in your managers, the answer isn’t to scrap EOS. It’s to go deeper. You don’t need a different framework, you need better follow-through.
That’s why we do what we do at The Metiss Group. Through The Leadership Essentials Playbook™, we help our clients build better leadership teams so they can more confidently lead, manage, and hold their team accountable.
Now that you understand why EOS’s LMA isn’t enough to develop great leaders, the next step is to learn more about the eight essential leadership practices. Start with this article on feedback vs. criticism in the workplace.
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