Confessions of an Implementer – S2E25

Episode Title: Right People, Right Seats: How Core Values Transform Company Culture with Beth Berman
Date: December 3, 2025
Host: Ryan Hogan
Guest: Beth Berman (EOS Implementer)

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the transformative power of core values and the "right people, right seats" philosophy in building healthy company cultures. Host Ryan Hogan and veteran EOS Implementer Beth Berman discuss practical strategies for fostering open and honest conversations, confronting hard truths, and leading teams through change—even when it means difficult personnel decisions. Beth shares stories from the field, reveals proven EOS tools, and offers actionable advice for leaders committed to growth, candor, and effective team dynamics.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Culture vs. Strategy: The Primacy of Core Values

• Beth's Opening Thought:
  “Culture eats strategy. For breakfast, you gotta have the people that fit with you...you would clone them if you could. Those are the people who need to be on your team and if they're really divergent from that...”
  (00:00, 38:38)
• Core values and cultural fit outweigh pure skills and strategy. High performers who don’t align with values can undermine the organization despite their contributions.

2. Translating EOS from Businesses to Families & Peer Groups

• Personal Crossover: Beth implements EOS principles in both professional settings and her own family.
  “[For us,] EOS works well … I call our families dynamic Survival of the thickest skin because we've always gotten real with each other.” (01:23)
• Approach: Open, honest dialogue is vital, regardless of group—family, peer group, or business.

3. Building Safe Environments for Honest Conversations

• Facilitator’s Role:
  Beth shares her approach: “I've really never been afraid to enter the danger and open up...One of my uniques is the ability with a high EQ to get people to open up and trust and have those conversations.”
  (03:24)
• EOS tools make issues visible and create space for vulnerability and candor.
• Some teams need strong pushes, others reassurance; skilled facilitation adapts by reading the room.

4. The Challenge of Wrong People in the Room

• Ryan’s Dilemma: “...creating a safe environment when there's folks in the room that shouldn't be there...” (05:46)
• Beth: Begin with clarity on right people/right seats; start with only strategic leaders who are aligned and willing.
  “It’s a deal breaker if you don’t have the right people.” (08:40)
• Sometimes leaders must admit the team is smaller than they thought; self-awareness is a strength, not a weakness.

5. The "Three-Strike Rule" for Addressing Misalignment

• Beth’s Recommendation: Don’t hastily fire people; use a structured, objective process:
  1. Clearly communicate behavior gaps with three data points.
  2. Give space and time for improvement.
  3. Follow up; by strike three, the solution is clear to all.
     (13:47)
  • “The reason you do three is because the first one, they think, oh, you're nuts. The second one is a coincidence and by the third, they can see that, yeah, I guess there really is a pattern here.” (13:47)

6. Objectivity Over Emotion

• Beth: “It’s about being able to get past the emotion, get past the ego, get, get past the long time relationships...”
  Objective systems like the People Analyzer make the tough calls clearer and less personal. (10:19, 26:10)

7. When the Leader Is the Problem

• Strategies for privately and constructively confronting visionaries or dominant leaders whose behavior undermines team trust.
  “It's more about, I'm observing this and that. I'm observing the reactions of your people. What is it you really want here and why is it this way? Like, it's really about getting curious, not attacking...” (29:57)

8. The Nuances of Giving Feedback

• Offer feedback with kindness and curiosity, not judgment—ask, have we given them every chance to succeed? Are expectations clear?
• Be specific: “Your performance is great, but you’re way too siloed, way too competitive...Can you become more inclusive?” (35:42)

9. Scaling Culture as Organizations Grow

• Even when leaders are less hands-on, core values should guide all hiring, rewarding, and firing decisions.
• EOS “Speech” Tool: Each core value should have a story, history, and explicit examples of both value and anti-value—shared repeatedly so the company “bleeds” its values.
  “You have to repeat it a lot. So at every state of the company, every quarterly…refresh that outline when they talk about core values and do shout outs...” (39:50)

10. How EOS Changes Companies and Lives

• EOS isn’t just a business system; it delivers personal clarity and organizational momentum.
• “EOS is a system for managing human energy and people are at the core of making your company great.” (08:40)
• Both host and guest credit EOS with tangible, positive transformation in their organizations and lives.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On “Culture Eats Strategy”:
  “You've got to have the people that fit with you…You would clone them if you could. Those are the people who, who need to be on your team.”
  (00:00, 38:38 — Beth Berman)

• On Confronting Difficult Truths: “You have to be able to get past the emotion, get past the ego…If they don’t fit, and they can’t get better and they can’t adopt your way of being, then it’s really dangerous for the company to keep them.”
  (10:19 — Beth Berman)

• On the Hesitance to Let Someone Go:
  “If you're giving feedback to people and your fear is that they're going to leave, that kind of goes back to that internal demon who's in your company because they're holding you back from making the right decision.”
  (33:56 — Beth Berman)

• On Giving Feedback:
  “Great feedback looks like, first of all, not being cruel, but being kind. It looks like coaching, again, from a place of curiosity, getting really curious...”
  (35:42 — Beth Berman)

• On Bringing EOS Home:
  “In my family, we have regular meetings in which we all work on ourselves and each other. And it’s very open and honest like eos and we chart progress and we solve issues.”
  (47:49 — Beth Berman)

• On Implementing Core Values at Scale:
  “We have an exercise, we take them through to build the core values…But then there's a tool in EOS called the speech…For each core value, what's the history of that value? Why is that so important to us? Maybe a story…what's the anti value? And you make that extreme.”
  (39:50 — Beth Berman)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 0:00, 38:38 — Culture beats strategy; cloning your best fits; Peter Drucker reference
• 01:23 — EOS at work and at home; “Survival of the thickest skin” family
• 03:24 — Creating psychological safety and candor
• 05:46-08:40 — What to do when team members aren’t a fit; starting small and self-awareness
• 10:19, 13:47 — Structure, core values, “three-strike rule” for alignment
• 16:07-18:47 — Managing distrust, calling out bad vibes, facilitating healthy confrontation
• 20:21 — Debunking the need for session-room “fireworks”; importance of objectivity
• 22:16-26:10 — Problems with dominant leaders, People Analyzer tool, balancing types
• 29:57 — Coaching visionaries/difficult leaders effectively
• 31:57-32:51 — On whether people can change and giving opportunities
• 35:42 — What great feedback looks like; balancing strengths and weaknesses
• 39:50 — Maintaining culture while scaling: the “Speech” tool and core value storytelling
• 47:33-49:06 — EOS journey in Beth’s life and family; integrating business and personal vision
• 49:41 — How to contact Beth Berman

Conclusion & Takeaways

• Core values aren’t just words—they’re real, objective criteria for hiring, rewarding, developing, and letting go.
• A system like EOS makes the hard people decisions both clearer and more humane.
• Leadership means facing truths, not avoiding them—whether in yourself, your team, or your culture.
• Sustained transformation comes from rigorous self-reflection, honest feedback loops, and relentless focus on “right people, right seats.”

Contact Beth Berman:
beth.berman@eosworldwide.com
301-807-1990
LinkedIn

“It’s about being able to get past the emotion, get past the ego, get, get past the long time relationships…”
(10:19 — Beth Berman)

“You have to repeat it a lot.…before they really adopt [core values] and integrate them.”
(42:49 — Beth Berman)

This summary captures major discussion threads, core insights, and the episode's practical value for leaders aiming to transform company culture through intentional, objective people practices.