If it feels like weather has been in the news a lot lately, it has.
Parts of the Midwest and East have been dealing with major storms. Flooding, wind, and real disruption. At the same time, here in the Intermountain West, we’ve been talking about the opposite problem. A lack of snow, low moisture, and what that might mean long term.
Same country. Same season. Very different conditions.
And nobody’s asking, “How do we fix this weather?” We don’t currently have the capability to change weather on a day-to-day basis.
Instead, we ask better questions. How do we prepare? How do we adapt? What do we need to do differently given the conditions we’re facing?
That contrast sparked a simple insight for me coupled with a thought I had in the temple recently:
Business has weather too.
So does leadership. So do our people. So does our own mental and emotional health.
Some seasons are sunny and calm. Others are rainy, windy, snowy, or chaotic. Sometimes the challenge is too much pressure. Sometimes it’s the absence of momentum. Sometimes it’s a full-blown storm.
The mistake leaders make isn’t experiencing different kinds of weather. It’s being surprised by it or dressing for the wrong conditions.
As John Ruskin observed:
“There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”
The same is true in business. The goal isn’t perfect conditions. The goal is learning how to lead, decide, and operate well in whatever conditions show up.
☀️ Sunny Days: When Everything Is Working
What this looks like Revenue is strong. The team is humming. Customers are happy. Rocks are on track. You feel smart again.
The risk Assuming this is “normal” and will last forever.
How to dress for sunny weather You enjoy it, but you prepare.
This is when great leaders:
- Re-anchor the vision
- Build systems
- Strengthen relationships
- Create margin
EOS tools that help:
- Vision/Traction Organizer to reaffirm direction
- Rocks to keep focus sharp
- Scorecard to ensure results are repeatable, not accidental
Sunny days are when you get ready for what’s coming next.
🌧️ Rainy Days: When Progress Feels Heavy
What this looks like Results flatten. Energy dips. Meetings feel harder. Motivation takes more effort.
Nothing is broken, but nothing feels easy.
The temptation Overreacting. Second-guessing. Changing too much too fast.
How to dress for rain You grab an umbrella and keep moving.
EOS tools that help:
- Level 10 Meetings for consistency
- Scorecards to separate facts from feelings
- IDS to solve real issues instead of spinning internally
Rainy days aren’t a signal to stop. They’re a signal to stick to the process.
💨 Windy Days: When Everything Feels Reactive
What this looks like Fire drills. Constant interruptions. Slack messages everywhere. No one feels ahead.
The danger Letting urgency replace importance.
How to dress for wind You stabilize yourself and narrow your focus.
EOS tools that help:
- Rocks to re-anchor priorities
- Issues List to capture chaos instead of carrying it
- Accountability Chart to ensure clear ownership
Wind doesn’t mean you’re off course. It means you need firmer footing.
🔮 Weather Forecasting: Why Great Leaders Rarely Get “Surprised”
In the real world, we don’t just react to weather. We forecast it.
Meteorologists can’t control the weather, but they track patterns, watch leading indicators, and issue warnings early enough for people to prepare.
The difference between a manageable storm and a catastrophe usually isn’t the weather itself. It’s warning and preparation.
Business works the same way.
Most leadership stress doesn’t come from bad weather. It comes from unexpected weather.
Predicting: A Critical Leadership Ability
One of the most important leadership abilities is predicting.
Predicting doesn’t mean guessing the future. It means:
- Seeing trends early
- Recognizing patterns
- Calling things before they become emergencies
- Preparing the organization for what’s likely coming next
Great leaders don’t say, “How did this happen?” They say, “We saw this coming and here is how we are going to respond.”
EOS Tools as Your Weather Forecast
The Scorecard: Your Radar
Scorecards aren’t about reporting the past. They’re about predicting the future.
When a weekly number is off track, that’s not noise. That’s weather forming offshore. IDS'ing that offtrack scorecard metric allows you to prepare for or avoid that weather much like pilots steer planes around storms.
Rocks: Seasonal Forecasts
Quarterly Rocks force leadership teams to ask:
- What season are we entering?
- What matters most right now?
- What must be true 90 days from now?
Rocks help you dress for winter instead of pretending it’s summer.
Quarterly Sessions: The Long-Range Forecast
Quarterlies are where leadership teams zoom out.
They look at:
- What weather just passed through
- What patterns are repeating
- What conditions are likely coming next
- What do need to stay true to regardless of the weather
- Where do we want to be once the storm passes
This is where teams stop reacting start predicting what’s ahead.
IDS: Storm Tracking
Issues rarely appear all at once. They build.
IDS is the discipline of saying, “This looks small now, but it won’t stay that way.”
Solving issues early is like boarding up the windows before the storm hits.
Level 10 Meetings: Regular Weather Briefings
Consistent meetings create situational awareness.
They answer:
- What changed?
- What’s trending?
- What needs attention now?
Skip them, and you lose the forecast.
Clarity Breaks: Stepping Outside the Storm
Clarity breaks are how leaders rise above the weather instead of getting soaked by it.
They create space to:
- Think instead of react
- Connect patterns
- Make proactive decisions
- Predict what’s coming next
In tough weather, great leaders don’t just work harder. They step back long enough to think clearly.
🌪️ Storms and Hurricanes: When Things Break
A key leader quits. Cash gets tight. A major client leaves. Conflict escalates. You feel it in your body.
This is real business weather.
As Brian Tracy said:
“The true test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis.”
In moments like this, leaders aren’t just decision-makers. They’re sense-makers.
As Margaret Heffernan suggests, in times of turbulence, a leader’s job is to make sense of the chaos.
And perhaps most importantly:
“Calm is contagious.”
Mental Health, Leadership, and the Space to Choose
Forecasting creates space. And space matters.
Viktor Frankl taught:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.”
EOS tools create that space.
They slow leaders down enough to respond intentionally instead of reacting emotionally. And when leaders do that well, teams feel it.
People don’t need perfect weather. They need steady, predictable leadership.
A Simple AI Prompt to Predict Your Business Weather
You can use AI as a thinking partner to forecast the “weather” in your business.
Copy and paste this prompt:
AI Prompt: Help Me Predict the Weather in My Business
ROLE You are my business and life coach. You are well versed in EOS, EOS tools, and helping leaders live the EOS Life (doing what they love, with people they love, making a huge difference, being compensated appropriately, and having time for other passions).
Your job is to help me “predict the weather” in my business and leadership life so I can prepare and respond wisely, not react emotionally.
PROCESS
- Start by asking me questions to gather the relevant information you need. Ask questions one at a time. Those questions could include: Industry and size, Revenue trend, Cash and profit trend, Team morale and leadership health, Rocks status, Top recurring issues, My current stress and energy level.
- As you gather information, ask me questions one at a time to help me identify possible “weather patterns” (sunny, rainy, windy, snowy, storms). Feel free to call out troubling trends or issues that may be forming that you see as well but don't do my thinking for me.
- Once we have identified potential problems, help me think through which EOS tools could address them (Scorecard, Level 10 Meetings, IDS, Rocks, V/TO, Accountability Chart, People Analyzer, Quarterly Sessions, Annual Planning, Clarity Breaks, and any other relevant EOS tools).
- Do not tell me what to do. Help me decide for myself by offering options, tradeoffs, and thoughtful questions.
- After we land on a decision, help me define a clear next step I can take in the next 7 days.
- At the end, summarize: the key inputs I provided, the trends and potential “weather” we discovered, the EOS tools we discussed, the decision I made, my next step
Used well, AI doesn’t replace leadership. It helps leaders see patterns and choose better responses. I used this prompt recently and it helped me identify where in my sales process I needed to be more intentional and helped me design a scorecard metric to keep me on track.
The Big Idea
You can’t stop the weather.
But you can stop being surprised by it.
EOS doesn’t eliminate storms. It gives leaders radar, forecasts, and preparation so they can lead calmly through whatever shows up.
Or, as the proverb reminds us:
“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.”
The goal isn’t perfect conditions. The goal is becoming the kind of leader who knows how to lead in any weather.
Call to Action What kind of “weather” are you experiencing in your business right now? Which EOS tool has helped you most when conditions got tough?
If you’re feeling surprised by the weather too often, it may be time to strengthen your forecasting systems. Your local EOS Implementer can help you. I'm also here if you want to talk.
#Leadership #EOS #Entrepreneurship #BusinessLeadership #ResilientLeadership #MentalFitness #Predicting #ClarityBreak #QuarterlyPlanning #RunYourBusinessBetter