Client Highlight: Supportive Living Solutions
Supportive Living Solutions (SLS) is a family-owned business that has been bettering our community for three generations. SLS was started by Virginia Arrigoni, a recovering alcoholic who wanted to help other alcoholics find a better, sober life as she did. In 1973 Virginia started a halfway house in her own home, and over time grew it into two full homes. CEO Bill Arrigoni took his mother’s vision further and expanded SLS in 2001. Today, SLS has 9 locations and serves individuals living with chemical dependency, long-term homelessness and serious or persistent mental illness. The mission SLS and the Arrigoni family serves is to improve the quality of life in their community. And they’re doing just that.
We are proud to have SLS as one of our Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) clients. They are serious about running EOS “pure” and following the system to a tee. This is exemplified with their experience running the Level 10 Meetings. Prior to EOS, there was not a consistent executive leadership team meeting, although President Angelica Arrigoni Young is quick to note, “We knew we needed one.” The team self-implemented EOS in the beginning, including their meetings, and saw results, but once they began to work with Sue, they realized there was still a lot to learn. “We were sloppy,” admits Bill, and his wife and HR Manager Lisa Arrigoni echoes this. “At the beginning we had to cut each other off constantly because we were talking around the issues and there was a lot of politicking going on,” says Lisa. “Some of us were frustrated by that.”
Practicing the meetings weekly with discipline and adopting a beginner’s mindset helped the SLS leadership team work through that frustration. “It was so new that we didn’t know how to handle different parts of the meeting or how it tied into all the other aspects of EOS,” said Lisa. Knowing things would get easier over time and EOS would bring the clarity the company was looking for helped SLS to keep improving the meeting. By staying disciplined week after week, the leadership team stayed committed to what kept them on the right track for their business for the long term.
Their commitment is working and SLS is seeing tremendous results. Angelica believes the EOS Level 10 Meeting “guides the week and gets everyone on the same page.” Both she and her mother Lisa agree it has eliminated the need for several other meetings throughout the week. Issues are solved with actionable to-dos, and accountability is high which results in tasks getting completed on time. SLS is seeing weekly momentum as a result of their Level 10 discipline. “We’re getting things done that we normally wouldn’t, and much more efficiently,” says Bill.
The EOS tools help the SLS team continue their success. Angelica emphasizes the value of the EOS Scorecard, Rocks and Quarterly and Annual planning sessions. “There is a high degree of accountability and commitment to not letting the team down,” she says. “The EOS Accountability Chart™ helps as well; we now have the right people doing the right things from the right seats.” Lisa echoes that the Process Component of EOS has also helped SLS. “EOS has helped us develop and refine our structures and processes,” she says. “It’s been a really good map to help us take a look at our company while allowing us to pay attention to the areas that were previously unattended to.”
The biggest benefit of EOS has been “the unity and alignment of everyone in the company from top to bottom,” says Bill. “We are light years beyond where we were. It’s already transformed the complexity of the company and our culture. The culture was at a 5, and today we’re at almost an 8- there’s a significant improvement in aligning to the culture and core values.” SLS now has clarity and consistency in their business, with everyone in the company “following the same playbook and rules,” says Angelica. “We had core values before, but prior to the EOS People Analyzer™ tool we didn’t have clarity about who was the right person or wrong person. Now we’re all using the same tools and speaking the same language.”
Working with an EOS Certified Implementer has helped SLS navigate the intricacies of running a family business. “It was exactly what we needed,” states Angelica. “EOS gave us tools and a rulebook about how to talk to each other. The EOS People Analyzer™ and Accountability Chart™ are tools that help us to be more objective.” Lisa agrees, saying, “We’ve made some of our biggest strides with Sue because EOS has allowed us to be open, honest and candid. It’s helped us say things we were hesitant to say to our family, and clarified our roles as family members both inside and outside of the business.”
SLS has achieved success by setting goals and diligently staying committed to the process to achieve them. Core values and the vision for the company’s future keeps all employees aligned and everyone’s motivation up; while tools like the People Analyzer™ and Accountability Chart™ bring accountability to the company. By adopting a beginner’s mindset with the EOS Level 10 meeting and other tools within the system, Supportive Living Solutions has allowed themselves to admit what they don’t know and experience the benefits of their own commitment. We are proud to partner with a company and family so committed to their values and giving back to others. Our community is better for it and so are we. Thank you SLS for who you are, those you serve and the fantastic partnership we share.
If you know of someone who could benefit from the resources Supportive Living Solutions offers, contact them at info@gosupportive.com or 651.209.8490