My business partner and I co-founded this company and we have always split the responsibilities fifty-fifty. Now that we are implementing EOS® and building our Accountability Chart, our team is telling us that our joint leadership is confusing. We both want to be in the Integrator seat. How do we resolve this co-founder deadlock without ruining our partnership?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic partnership bottleneck. Having two people in the Integrator seat violates the most fundamental rule of the Accountability Chart: one name accountable per seat. When two people are responsible, nobody is responsible. Your team is confused because they do not know who has the final say, leading to slow decision-making.

You and your partner must have a frank, honest conversation outside of your daily operations. You must look at the Integrator seat and use the GWC™ tool objectively for both of you. The Integrator is the orchestrator of the leadership team, driving execution, accountability, and cross-functional harmony.

Only one of you can sit in that seat. The other partner must take a different seat on the Accountability Chart that aligns with their unique abilities. Often, one partner is naturally a Visionary, while the other is an Integrator. Or, one partner might be better suited to lead Sales and Marketing or Technology.

If you both GWC™ the Integrator seat and cannot agree, you are hurting your business and lowering your exit valuation. Consider using an external facilitator, like a Professional EOS Implementer®, to help you IDS® this conflict objectively. If you still cannot agree, you may need to look at hiring an external Integrator so both of you can move into roles that protect the business from partnership gridlock.