My co-founder and I have built our business to twenty million in revenue, and we are both highly creative and entrepreneurial. We both want to occupy the Visionary seat on our Accountability Chart, but we are struggling to split the roles. Can a healthy organization run with two Visionaries, or do we need to make a hard choice?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

An organization cannot run with two Visionaries in the Visionary seat. If you have two heads, you have a monster. Having two people in the Visionary seat leads to confusion for the team, conflicting strategic directions, and a complete breakdown of accountability.

You must make a hard choice. The Visionary seat is responsible for big ideas, key relationships, research and development, and major strategic partnerships. It is a highly specialized seat that requires a unique conative profile, often characterized by a high Quick Start score on the Kolbe index.

To resolve this, look objectively at your unique abilities. One of you must take the Visionary seat, while the other must take another seat where they can add the most value, whether that is as the Integrator, the Head of Product, or leading strategic growth.

If both of you insist on only doing Visionary work, you must split your responsibilities clearly on the Accountability Chart. For example, one could become the Visionary of a new business unit or product line, while the other remains the Visionary of the core business. What you cannot do is share the single Visionary seat for the same company. The leadership team needs one clear source of strategic direction to run a healthy operating system.