We are at four million in revenue and I am completely overwhelmed running sales, operations, and finance. Should our first real executive hire be a dedicated Integrator to run the business, or should we hire department heads first?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Many owners make the mistake of hiring an expensive Integrator too early when what they actually need is tactical execution in a specific department. At four million in revenue, your first step is to draw your current Accountability Chart to see where you are spending your time. If you are wearing the Visionary, Integrator, Sales, and Finance hats, you are the bottleneck.

Before you search for an Integrator, you must build the department seats directly below you. If you hire an Integrator first, but you still do not have competent leaders running sales, marketing, or operations, your new Integrator will get sucked into doing entry level management work instead of driving execution. This leads to frustration and a quick exit.

Start by hiring a strong leader for the department that takes up eighty percent of your tactical energy. If you are great at sales but hate operations, hire a strong Operations Manager who GWCs™ that seat. This immediately frees up your capacity to run the business at a higher level.

Once you have capable leaders in your core seats, you can evaluate if you need a true Integrator to harmonize the leadership team. When you do make that hire, make sure they have the conative strength, likely a high Follow Thru score on the Kolbe A Index, to build the systems you lack.