Are you “Settling” with a mediocre Integrator?
There are many reasons that you, the Visionary, choose to keep an Integrator that isn’t the right person for the Integrator seat. It could be driven by not having the budget for it; you don’t want to hire or spend money on the right person. It could be that you moved a co-founder into that seat, just because, well they are your co-founder. It could be that you moved a loyal employee into that seat because you felt they could thrive in that role but realized they didn’t quite meet your expectations.
Most Visionaries settle for their current Integrator and become complacent about changing the person in that role. If you continue to use an Integrator (service or in-house) that you feel is not suitable or just not meeting your expectations, the outcome might not look so bright for you and your business.
Typical outcomes when you don’t have the right Integrator.
You won’t get the full value out of EOS®.
You won’t have the right leader in the seat
You will hang onto the vine longer, which will stunt your business growth
You will hold the accountabilities for both the Visionary and Integrator
Your business won’t innovate as quickly as it could with you doing both roles
You will ultimately abandon EOS®.
These are just a few outcomes, and there are plenty of others. The fact is that, if you truly want to get the most out of the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®.), then you must have the right Integrator in the seat, and not just settle for someone that has most of the requirements.
Integrator from within Pro’s and Con’s
75% of Integrators get placed into that role from within the organization. Now that might work sometimes, but based on our conversations with Visionaries and Implementers, this doesn’t always work out as planned. It is possible that you might have someone qualified as an ideal Integrator on your team, but its typically the case where smaller organizations have managers and leaders with little finance, sales, and marketing backgrounds.
Your Integrator should have a well-rounded background in finance, sales, marketing, and operations. They don’t have to be an expert in finance but should be capable of reading and managing a P&L. They don’t need to be a seasoned sales person but should understand basic sales systems and how to manage a sales team. They don’t need to be a marketing expert but should have the capabilities to understand positioning, go-to-market, and can identify the basic systems and marketing programs that should be implemented.
Right Leader, Wrong Seat
In January of 2015, Jeff Whittle of EOS®. Worldwide wrote an article titled “Right People, Right Seat” where he talks about “GWC,” Get it / Want it / Capacity to Do it. Because you put a great leader or co-founder in the Integrator seat, doesn’t mean they will have all of the elements of GWC. “You will know when someone doesn’t get it.” Said Jeff “Don’t over-think this. When somebody doesn’t get it, you know.” If you know that your Integrator just doesn’t get it, then you should be developing a plan to replace them with someone that does.
Because someone wants the job doesn’t mean they can do the job. Most of our existing clients hired us initially to evaluate their Integrator to make sure that the Integrator in the seat has all of the components of GWC. Sometimes when we evaluate an Integrator, they may get it and want it but don’t necessarily have the capacity to do the job. That doesn’t mean you have to replace them immediately; we typically recommend to our clients one of our training packages over a three to six month period so we can get their Integrator to a place that they can do the job. If after the training, your Integrator still can’t do the job, then you have someone sitting in the wrong seat.
Jim Collin’s book “Good to Great” deserves its place on the all-time business classics. Collins says “leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with “where” but with “who.” They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. And they stick with that discipline—first the people, then the direction—no matter how dire the circumstances.” If you want to take your company from Good to Great using you, need to make sure you have the right Integrator
If you are still hanging on the vine, you have the wrong Integrator.
If you have someone in the Integrator seat, yet you refuse to let go of the vine, then they are the wrong Integrator. If you struggle to delegate leadership tasks to you Integrator, then you need to think about whether you have the right leader in the Integrator seat. IF there are Integrator tasks that you are working on that should be delegated to your actual Integrator, then these tasks are not the best use of your time.
By hanging on the vine and doing the job of Integrator because you don’t trust the Integrator, you are not allowing the Visionary (YOU) to do the role of the Visionary. When the Visionary isn’t doing the job of the visionary, you are preventing your business from scaling and innovating as it should.
When you refuse to delegate tasks that can be done by the Integrator or quite frankly any other person within your organization, then why do you have that person on your team?
In Summary
We are not suggesting you have the wrong person in the wrong seat; only you know that. If you are unsure if you are getting the most out of your Integrator or are concerned that they Get It, Want It but doesn’t have the capacity, then we can help. Our experienced Integrators and coaches can help you evaluate not only you Integrator, but we can also evaluate your level ten team to make sure you have all of the right people in the right seats. If you are settling with an Integrator for financial reasons, then you should look at alternatives such as a fractional Integrator. The longer you wait to have the right Integrator in the seat, you are risking organizational performance, and are wasting valuable resources on EOS®.
GCE Strategic Consulting is dedicated to attracting visionaries and entrepreneurs with high-valued sales, marketing, and business systems and services that help those leaders maximize their ROI with EOS®. To learn more about our fractional Integrator services, click here.
