Picture this: It’s Monday morning, and your leadership team is gathered around the conference table. Coffee cups in hand, laptops open, everyone’s ready for another weekly meeting. But instead of the usual meandering discussions that eat up two hours and accomplish little, something different happens. The meeting starts precisely on time, follows a proven agenda, surfaces real issues, and ends with clear action items and accountability. Better yet, your team actually looks forward to it.
This isn’t a fantasy—it’s the reality for thousands of companies using the Level 10 Meeting™ (L10™) format from the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®). If you’ve ever left a meeting wondering what was actually accomplished, or if your team meetings feel more like necessary evils than productive gatherings, the L10 Meeting format could transform how your leadership team operates.
The L10 Meeting is extensively detailed in Gino Wickman’s groundbreaking book “Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business,” which has helped over a million companies worldwide gain control of their operations. This meeting format isn’t just another management fad—it’s a battle-tested approach that creates accountability, drives results, and ensures your leadership team is truly leading rather than just meeting.
Understanding EOS and the L10 Meeting’s Role
Before diving into the specifics of running an L10 Meeting, it’s helpful to understand where it fits in the broader Entrepreneurial Operating System. EOS is a comprehensive business framework designed to help leadership teams clarify, simplify, and achieve their vision. It provides practical tools and concepts that address the six key components of any business: Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction®.
The L10 Meeting is the cornerstone of the Traction component. It’s called a “Level 10” meeting because the goal is for everyone to rate it a 10 out of 10 at the end—meaning it was highly productive, engaging, and valuable. This isn’t about feel-good ratings; it’s about creating meetings so effective that missing one would be unthinkable.
What makes the L10 Meeting unique is its structured approach to ensuring your leadership team stays connected, aligned, and focused on solving the most important issues facing your company. It transforms the typical rambling staff meeting into a powerful tool for driving accountability and results.
The Anatomy of an L10 Meeting
The L10 Meeting follows a specific agenda with precise time allocations. This isn’t rigidity for rigidity’s sake—it’s a proven formula that maximizes productivity while ensuring all critical areas are covered. Here’s the breakdown of a typical 90-minute L10 Meeting:
1. Segue (5 minutes)
The meeting begins with a brief personal and professional check-in. Each team member shares a personal best from the last week and their professional best. This isn’t idle chitchat—it’s a deliberate practice that helps team members transition from their individual work to collective thinking while building stronger relationships.
The key to an effective segue is keeping it brief and positive. This isn’t the time for lengthy stories or negativity. One person might share that their daughter scored the winning goal in her soccer game (personal) and that they closed a major deal (professional). These quick shares humanize the team and start the meeting on a high note.
2. Scorecard Review (5 minutes)
Next, the team reviews their Scorecard—a weekly report of 5-15 key numbers that provide a pulse on the business. Each person responsible for a number reports whether they’re “on track” or “off track.” If a number is off track, it’s briefly noted and dropped into the Issues List for later discussion.
The Scorecard might include metrics like:
- Weekly revenue
- Number of new leads
- Customer satisfaction score
- Production units completed
- Cash balance
The discipline here is to simply report the numbers without diving into explanations or problem-solving. That comes later.
3. Rock Review (5 minutes)
Rocks are the 3-7 most important priorities for the quarter. Each team member reports on their Rocks as either “on track” or “off track.” Like with the Scorecard, any off-track items are noted for the Issues List without discussion.
This quick review ensures that quarterly priorities stay front and center every week, preventing the common problem of setting goals and then forgetting about them until the end of the quarter.
4. Customer/Employee Headlines (5 minutes)
Team members quickly share any important news about customers or employees—both good and bad. This might include:
- A major customer complaint or compliment
- An employee achievement or concern
- Market feedback that the team should know about
- Internal culture observations
These headlines keep everyone informed about what’s happening on the front lines and can surface issues before they become major problems.
5. To-Do List Review (5 minutes)
This is a review of the seven-day action items from the previous week’s meeting. Each person reports their to-dos as “done” or “not done.” The expectation is 90% completion—not perfection, but high accountability.
When someone reports “not done,” there’s no judgment or lengthy explanation. The item either gets dropped (if no longer relevant) or carried forward. Consistently missing to-dos becomes an accountability issue to address separately.
6. Issues Solving (60 minutes)
This is the heart of the L10 Meeting—60 full minutes dedicated to identifying, discussing, and solving issues. By this point in the meeting, you’ve likely accumulated 10-20 issues from the various reporting sections, plus any new issues team members bring up.
The process for Issues Solving follows the IDS™ method:
- Identify: Clarify what the real issue is (often different from the stated problem)
- Discuss: Everyone shares relevant data and perspectives
- Solve: Agree on a solution and create action items with clear ownership
The team prioritizes the top three issues and works through them using IDS. The goal isn’t to solve every issue every week, but to make meaningful progress on the most important ones.
7. Conclude (5 minutes)
The meeting wraps up with three important elements:
- Recap to-dos: Review all action items with owners and due dates
- Cascading messages: Identify key messages that need to be communicated to the broader organization
- Rating: Each person rates the meeting 1-10
The rating provides immediate feedback. Anything less than an 8 warrants brief discussion about what would make it better next week.
Critical Success Factors for L10 Meetings
Simply following the agenda isn’t enough to create truly effective L10 Meetings. Here are the key factors that separate great L10s from mediocre ones:
Same Day, Same Time, Same Place
L10 Meetings must be sacred—scheduled at the same time every week with no exceptions. This predictability allows team members to plan around it and signals its importance. Many teams find that Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning works well, allowing time to gather week-end data while setting the tone for the week ahead.
Start and End on Time
Punctuality shows respect for everyone’s time and maintains meeting discipline. Start exactly on time, even if people are missing. End on time, even if you haven’t solved every issue. This constraint forces prioritization and efficiency.
No Phones, No Distractions
L10 Meetings require full presence. Phones should be off or left outside the room. Laptops should be closed unless someone is taking notes or presenting data. The 90 minutes of focused attention pays dividends in productivity.
Everyone Participates
L10s aren’t presentations where one person talks while others listen. Every team member should contribute to discussions, raise issues, and take ownership of action items. Quiet team members should be drawn out; dominant personalities should be managed.
Real Issues, Not Symptoms
The quality of your Issues List determines the value of your meeting. Teams must dig below surface symptoms to identify root causes. “Sales are down” isn’t an issue—it’s a symptom. The real issue might be “Our value proposition no longer resonates with our target market” or “Our sales process breaks down at the proposal stage.”
Common L10 Meeting Challenges and Solutions
Even with a clear format, teams often encounter challenges when implementing L10 Meetings. Here’s how to overcome the most common obstacles:
Challenge: Meetings Run Long
Solution: This usually indicates too much discussion during reporting sections or inefficient issue solving. Appoint a strong facilitator who keeps the meeting moving. Use a timer for each section. Remember that not every issue needs to be solved today—prioritize ruthlessly.
Challenge: Same Issues Keep Coming Up
Solution: This suggests you’re not getting to root causes or creating effective solutions. Spend more time in the “Identify” phase of IDS. Ask “why” five times to dig deeper. Ensure solutions have clear, measurable action items with accountability.
Challenge: Low Meeting Ratings
Solution: When ratings drop below 8, take it seriously. Common causes include: too much reporting and not enough issue solving, lack of preparation, or team members not speaking up about real issues. Address these directly and adjust your approach.
Challenge: Inconsistent Attendance
Solution: This is a leadership issue. L10 attendance must be non-negotiable for leadership team members. If someone consistently misses or arrives late, it’s time for a crucial conversation about priorities and commitment.
Challenge: Surface-Level Discussions
Solution: Teams sometimes avoid difficult conversations, keeping discussions superficial. Create psychological safety by modeling vulnerability. Celebrate healthy conflict. Remember that temporary discomfort leads to permanent solutions.
Advanced L10 Techniques
Once your team masters the basics, consider these advanced techniques to enhance your L10 Meetings:
The Issues List Whiteboard
Keep a physical or digital whiteboard visible throughout the week where team members can add issues as they arise. This prevents forgetting important topics and allows for better preparation.
Rotating Facilitation
While many teams have the integrator or CEO run every L10, rotating facilitation builds skills across the team and increases engagement. Each person brings their own style while maintaining the format.
Themed Issue Solving
Occasionally dedicate the entire issues-solving segment to a single theme, such as customer experience, employee development, or process improvement. This allows for deeper dives into strategic areas.
Quarterly L10 Pulse Checks
Every quarter, dedicate part of an L10 to reviewing the meeting itself. What’s working? What isn’t? How can you move from 8s to 10s? This continuous improvement mindset keeps the meeting fresh and effective.
Implementing L10 Meetings with Technology
While L10 Meetings can certainly be run with just a whiteboard and notepad, modern technology can significantly enhance their effectiveness, especially for teams with remote members or those wanting better tracking and accountability.
Digital tools can help with several aspects of L10 Meetings:
- Scorecard Tracking: Automated data collection and visualization makes it easier to spot trends and maintain historical records
- Rock Management: Digital tracking of quarterly priorities with progress updates and milestone management
- Issues List Management: Centralized repository for issues that can be prioritized, tracked, and resolved over time
- To-Do Accountability: Clear assignment, due dates, and completion tracking for action items
- Meeting History: Record of past meetings, decisions, and outcomes for reference
EOS One, the official software platform for EOS, provides purpose-built tools for running L10 Meetings. It integrates all components of the L10 into a single platform, allowing teams to:
- Run through the L10 agenda with built-in timers and prompts
- Automatically carry forward incomplete to-dos and off-track items
- Maintain a persistent Issues List
- Track meeting ratings and identify patterns
- Generate automated meeting summaries and cascading messages
- Enable effective remote L10s with all information visible to virtual participants
The platform particularly shines for organizations running multiple L10s across different teams, providing consistency and roll-up visibility while maintaining team autonomy. However, the key is that technology should enhance the meeting, not dominate it. The focus must remain on solving issues and driving accountability.
Practical Next Steps for Implementation
Ready to implement L10 Meetings with your leadership team? Here’s a practical roadmap:
Week 1: Preparation
- Share this article or relevant sections of “Traction” with your leadership team
- Schedule a recurring 90-minute weekly meeting slot
- Create your initial Scorecard with 5-15 key metrics
- Identify current quarter Rocks if you don’t have them
- Set up your meeting space (physical or virtual)
Week 2: First L10 Meeting
- Explain the format and set expectations
- Run through the full agenda, even if some sections feel awkward
- Focus on following the timeline rather than perfection
- End with ratings and discuss improvements
Week 3-4: Refinement
- Adjust Scorecard metrics based on what’s truly important
- Get better at identifying real issues versus symptoms
- Build the discipline of starting and ending on time
- Establish the 90% to-do completion standard
Week 5+: Mastery
- Focus on improving IDS skills
- Deepen trust for more vulnerable conversations
- Consider technology tools if manual tracking becomes cumbersome
- Begin cascading L10s to other teams in the organization
Measuring L10 Success
How do you know if your L10 Meetings are truly working? Look for these indicators:
- Consistent high ratings: Regular 8+ ratings from all team members
- To-Do completion: 90%+ completion rate on action items
- Issue resolution: Important issues are solved and stay solved
- Team cohesion: Increased trust and healthy conflict
- Business results: Improved metrics on your Scorecard
- Meeting anticipation: Team members prepare for and look forward to L10s
- Organizational alignment: Clearer communication and execution throughout the company
The Multiplier Effect of Great Meetings
When implemented properly, L10 Meetings create a multiplier effect throughout your organization. A leadership team that meets effectively sets the tone for the entire company. The disciplines learned in L10s—accountability, focus, problem-solving, and clear communication—cascade into every other interaction.
Teams that run great L10s report numerous benefits beyond just better meetings:
- Faster decision-making and issue resolution
- Reduced time in other meetings (because issues are handled in L10s)
- Improved team relationships and trust
- Better visibility into what’s really happening in the business
- Increased accountability throughout the organization
- More predictable business results
Conclusion: From Meeting Dread to Meeting Excellence
The scenario we started with—a leadership team that actually looks forward to their weekly meeting—isn’t just possible; it’s probable when you implement the L10 Meeting format with discipline and commitment. This isn’t about rigidly following rules for the sake of rules. It’s about creating a consistent rhythm that drives real results.
The L10 Meeting transforms one of business’s necessary evils into a competitive advantage. While your competitors waste hours in meandering meetings, your team will be identifying and solving the issues that matter most. While they struggle with accountability, you’ll have clear ownership and 90% completion rates. While they wonder what was decided last week, you’ll have clear records and cascading communication.
Start with your next leadership team meeting. Print out the L10 agenda. Set a timer. Follow the format. Rate the meeting. Then do it again next week, and the week after that. Within a month, you’ll wonder how you ever ran meetings any other way. Within a quarter, your entire organization will feel the impact. That’s the power of turning your weekly meeting from a necessary evil into a Level 10 experience.
