A Conversation with: Craig Wigginton
The Profiles in Leadership series features conversations with organizational leadership experts to discuss important lessons they have learned and what “Hiring for Good” means to them. This series helps us better understand how leadership drives positive transformations and growth for people, organizations, and the world around us.
This episode features a conversation with Craig Wigginton. Craig is an accomplished business coach and consultant based in Portland, Oregon. With over two decades of experience, he has worked alongside entrepreneurs and leadership teams to scale businesses efficiently, build high-performing teams, and implement systems that drive long-term success. Craig’s work revolves around helping business owners achieve the time and financial freedom they desire by building businesses that have real intrinsic value and fostering leadership teams that execute with clarity and alignment.
As a Certified EOS Implementer and Outgrow Advisor, Craig specializes in helping businesses reach their full potential by implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS®) and Outgrow. His passion lies in watching entrepreneurs break through growth ceilings, improve execution, and create cultures of accountability. By working closely with business leaders, Craig helps companies transform their challenges into opportunities for growth, with the ultimate goal of giving entrepreneurs more control, freedom, and peace of mind.
Craig’s professional background spans several successful business ventures. As the founder of Eupraxis Consulting, he has worked with 7- and 8-figure companies, helping them scale without the chaos. His experience in business development, product innovation, marketing, and operational strategy has equipped him with a deep understanding of how to align leadership teams and implement scalable systems. His entrepreneurial journey includes significant roles in scaling two family-owned businesses, one of which was acquired by a Fortune 25 company. He led the national rollout of a technology platform across 2,000+ locations, driving sales growth from $25 million to $1.5 billion in just five years.
Before founding Eupraxis Consulting, Craig held leadership positions at The Home Depot, where he oversaw the integration of the QuoteCenter platform into 2,000+ Pro Desks across 19 regions, resulting in a massive sales increase. He also contributed to the growth of several startups, including Precision Estimating, Inc, where he led the development of software solutions to simplify the material estimating and delivery process across the supply chain.
Through his experiences, Craig developed the Executive Flywheel Program, a comprehensive system that helps leaders master the Five Levels of Effectiveness: managing time, clarifying contribution, leveraging strengths, setting priorities, and making decisions. This program is just one example of the tools Craig uses to empower entrepreneurs to grow their businesses while staying true to their values.
In addition to his work as an EOS Implementer and Outgrow Advisor, Craig is dedicated to helping business owners gain clarity, achieve alignment, and improve execution. Whether it’s scaling a business, preparing for a leadership transition, or solving day-to-day challenges, Craig’s expertise equips leaders to create businesses that run smoothly and thrive.
Craig’s Contact Information: craig.wigginton@eosworldwide.com | 360-448-0944 | https://www.eosworldwide.com/
“When I work with my clients my my most successful clients are are fully committed to the process. They understand the power of commitment. And so I can see that wholeheartedness at work. It’s like they’re all in—they’ve done the evaluation, they’ve done the vetting, they’ve surveyed their options. Now they’re committed and and we just get to run. And there’s such freedom there, I think when you are fully wholehearted to a direction.”
Transcript:
Tanis Morris: This is a real treat to get to talk with Craig today, because not only is he a
fantastic business leader and strategist in his own right, he also has the opportunity to work with business leaders of all stripes in his professional career as an EOS implementer and outgrow adviser. Craig, welcome, welcome to Profiles of Leadership.
Craig Wigginton: Thank you Tanis. Yeah I'm excited to be here.
Tanis Morris: Yeah it's really a treat. You are—absolutely someone that I have been proud to recommend to companies in the past. I think very highly of you as a leader and so let's just go ahead and get into it. When we…when we talk about leadership one of the the really interesting questions is what formative experiences have you been through that really informed your own ideas about leadership or gave insight into the leadership process and—how do they, you know, how do your ideas about leadership impact the teams you advise or or the clients that you work with.
Craig Wigginton: Yeah—I love that. What, what first comes to mind—I was given a leadership opportunity—I was probably mid 20s when I took my first role as a leader and manager of a a functional area. But what stands out…so that was kind of where I cut my teeth—just really discovering the challenges involved in leading and managing other people. When we I was asked to join the executive team of another startup that was formed and in that growth within three years we were positioned for acquisition.
So, what kept, what comes to mind when I think about leadership, like real impressions that were made is that once we were acquired—there was a mindset shift for me that that we were always hiring. We went from 25 employees to 150 employees over the following five years.
Tanis Morris: Wow.
Craig Wigginton: And so to step into a mindset that it was all about talent. It was all about clarity. It was all about casting the vision for where we were going—and then just really really trying to work through that process of—interviewing, asking the right questions, trying to get the right people into the building, get them in the right seats. So, I felt like it was that shift whereas before it felt like it was more of an inconvenience and an obstacle when I would need to place somebody into a role. Really just because I didn't have the reps or even the mindset to go after that more full-time. So I feel like that was formative because it really changed the way that I thought about the value of placing good people into a position—and the process for doing that and really trying to get thoughtful and proficient in that.
Tanis Morris: Yeah. I mean that sounds like a fascinating kind of just evolution to undergo…I would be curious, you know, when you were building out those teams and like kind of on that continual—expansion of the team or in that mindset. Are there specific characteristics or leadership qualities that you looked for that, you know, maybe even just as you innately kind of gravitate toward in leaders or or, you know, in thinking through like for the specific team? And I don't know if those overlap or they're very different or…
Craig Wigginton: Yeah yeah. For sure. Well it it really depended on the role—capacity was one thing that I learned to look for—because we were growing, it was really important that I was trying to understand what could you contribute to not only where we are but where we're going. So, I was trying to hire into the capacity I knew I would need as we grew. So capacity was one and that was largely emotional capacity. So an individual's ability to be empathetic or to—navigate some of the nuance of interpersonal communication, those sorts of things—were high values for me. But also—time capacity as well. The ability to structure time and understand how many moving parts and pieces there were, what impact those moving parts and pieces might have. So, besides just technical proficiencies depending on the position I was doing mostly, this would have been mostly on—the user experience side, some of the software development, some of the graphical design. So, just more on the the front end of—the software life cycle that we had.
Tanis Morris: And when you talk about emotional capacity as that relates to like a software developer or something. I'm curious like h—how do you sort of screen for that or how do you identify those characteristics?
Craig Wigginton: Yeah yeah. Great question. So, it often is with a question—and I like to—just leave them open-ended as far as accomplishments. I like to ask about accomplishments. So, so, tell me about something that you've done in the last year that you feel especially proud of that made an impact in your world.
And so then to listen for how clear they are, how concise they are—just as, as kind of a proxy for their ability to not only grasp the question but understand they're talking to me. It's not just an academic, you know—exercise, just hearing how they formulate their thinking and how they're trying to respond to what I'm saying. Even their ability to pause and say "Okay I completely lost my train of thought. Can you ask the question again?"
Tanis Morris: Yeah.
Craig Wigginton: Just the ability to, to see that they're actually maintaining a human human, a human to human connection. Not just question.
Tanis Morris: That's really that's really interesting. Now, I'm fortunate enough to know you, you know, both in the workplace and then personally. And I know that you are a very kind of just intrinsically like, mission, mission-driven, like values-oriented person. So, now I'm going to ask you, you know, what values do you hold really, you know, that are very integral to kind of like, who you are, or your worldview, or how how you go about your business and your life. And then, you know, how, how have you been able to sort of—integrate those values into the companies or, that you advise, or the people that you work with, or, or, do you, you know, is it a different process? Are you looking to first work with people that are kind of aligned on those and then together you or or do you, you know, as a consultant, do you, you know, how do you kind of merge your own values with the values of your…the companies that you work with. There's a lot of questions there. We can break it down. Let's start with just you.
Craig Wigginton: Yeah. So I…yeah. So, personal values. I know for me one of them is wholehearted, where to me the reason that's significant is, I think sometimes it's, it's not uncommon or the tendency can be to to come into something half-hearted. And that it's kind of a mystery to unpack what that means but I think we all know the experience when we watch somebody's performance, or we interact with them. We just have this sense like they're just not all there. Some, some part of them is somewhere else. And that not only, it's costly in terms of productivity, but it's also just impacting in terms of connection and impact.
And so, so I think wholehearted is one. I I like to come at things with my whole heart and make sure that I'm fully present, work through, you know, where might I be distracted or what other things are pulling on my attention or even my priorities or values. And just making sure that if I've committed to something I'm in fact committed to it. My whole heart is in it. And then working through all of the reasons as to why I might not want to commit or so….
Even down—maybe that would be the second one is to, is kind of the do what you say value, is make sure that if I commit to something I'm fully committed. I have the full freedom and flexibility to say no. No is always a good answer—and sometimes it's the right answer. But just making sure that that level of commitment is there. And then I think how that transfers over.
When I work with my clients my my most successful clients are are fully committed to the process. They understand the power of commitment. And so I can see that wholeheartedness at work. It's like they're all in—they've done the evaluation, they've done the vetting, they've surveyed their options. Now they're committed and and we just get to run.
And there's such freedom there, I think when you are fully wholehearted to a direction.
Tanis Morris: Yeah. That's a wonderful—very succinct synopsis of of really, like, it sounds like you're kind of encapsulating alignment. Right? So. And just, you know, to go off script for a second..when you're kind of vetting companies that, that when you're figuring out, like, are we going to be able to work together? Is there a process that you kind of have there to identify if there's alignment or if that, that's going to be a good fit?
Craig Wigginton: Yeah, I do. Part of, part of my intake—it's typically just a conversation. But what I'm listening for, I'll ask a handful of questions—and what I'm listening for is, what I would summarize as openness and honesty, or open and honest. And I don't mean moral honesty. I mean just a, a level of cander to talk about what's really going on. And often we're not—so as far as honest, often we process things at a level of detail or a level of impact that we just don't share. Internalizing those and that leaves a lot of goodness off the table that we could talk about or we could explore.
And that really becomes an inhibitor to performance if we move forward, is that I don't know what I don't know. If it's not shared then there's no way we can talk about it—and then the honest is really how, how do they respond to feedback? How coachable are they? Some of my clients, this is the first coaching relationship they've been in. So they they're kind of working through that relationship of a level of transparency. Because I'm going to model openness and honesty. I'm open to feedback. I'm open to trying things differently. I'm interested in what you have to say that I may not have heard before. And then honest is just let's get it on the table. Let's talk about it, you know. Here's something I noticed. I noticed that you said that, or that was an interesting look, tell me more about that. And just if, if we can't get past those sorts of things…not all that happens in the first 30 minutes mind you. But in those early conversations, I'm really listening for, is this the kind of person who's coachable and will they commit to a process long term.
Tanis Morris: Very impressive and, and sounds like a really thoughtful and, and, I know, I know firsthand, that it's a successful process for you. That's great. Well, the last question that we ask our guests on Profiles in Leadership is, what does hiring for good mean to you. You know, this whole endeavor kind of started out with this idea of hiring for good. We love that it's iterative. We love that, you know, any anybody can kind of bring their own definition to, to the term. So, I'd be really curious to hear yours
Craig Wigginton: No, I love that. It's actually a fun, a fun question, because I I find that I spend a fair amount of time thinking about what is good. And—my working definition of good is simply two words. It's right relationship. So, for instance, my daughter made dinner last night—it was amazing and, and when I say it was amazing, typically we mean, in plain language it was good. And by good, we mean that somehow the relationship of all the ingredients was just right; the flavors were there—everything was on point—and it was delightful to take, you know, part in. So, I find that the same applies to the hiring process, to the staffing or placement—process, is not only do I want to make sure that my organization is rightly related to our mission. So, do we know who we serve, do we know how we serve them for maximum impact. So if those relationships are all right, that's good. And then if I'm hiring somebody how do I make sure that I understand what they can contribute, what they want to contribute, what I need to contribute. And then to me as I as we work through all those dynamics and we get those relationships rightly aligned or get things in right relationship, that is our, I think, our common experience of good. It might feel philosophical but I'm trying to make it as practical and simple as I think we experience it is, when things are rightly related, we experience goodness—so for me hiring, hiring for good would be through that lens is make sure the organization is aligned rightly to make its impact and then hire people to get them in position to contribute to that impact in a way that benefits them as well.
Tanis Morris: Well, I don't think that I've ever had anyone state it more beautifully so…. I've been doing this for over a year now. Well done Craig and thank you so much for your time. I am honored to have you be my guest on Profiles in Leadership. You're a leader I respect and I'm glad to know and I I really thank you for your time today.
Craig Wigginton: Likewise, Tanis. Thank you.
Tanis Morris: Thank you.