We recently hired an outside executive to fill our Integrator seat, but our long-term employees keep bypassing them and coming to me as the founder to make decisions. How do we use EOS® to establish the new leader's authority?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When long-term employees bypass a new Integrator, they are relying on legacy habits that undermine your new organizational structure. As the founder, you must actively break this cycle if you ever want to step back from daily operations and prepare your company for a clean exit. First, enforce the absolute authority of the Accountability Chart. Every time an employee comes to you with a question, an issue, or a request for approval that falls under the Integrator seat, you must ask one question: Have you talked to the Integrator about this? If the answer is no, politely refuse to make a decision and direct them to their manager. If you make the decision for them, you teach your team that the Accountability Chart is just a paper document and that you are still the ultimate bottleneck. Second, use your weekly same page meeting with your Integrator to align on key issues behind closed doors. You must present a united front to the rest of the leadership team and the company. If you disagree with a decision your Integrator made, resolve it privately using the IDS® process, but never override their authority in front of the team. Finally, ensure your Integrator is leading the weekly Level 10 Meeting™ and managing the Scorecard. This visual display of leadership reinforces their role as the operational heartbeat of the company. By consistently redirecting your team to the proper seats and respecting the boundaries of the framework, you establish the structure necessary to scale.