I am a business owner holding both the Integrator and Head of Sales seats on our Accountability Chart. How do I manage my weekly Scorecard and quarterly Rocks across both seats without letting urgent sales fires completely derail operational integration?
Holding two seats on the Accountability Chart is common in growing companies, but conflating the two seats is dangerous. When you treat the Integrator and Head of Sales roles as a single blended job, urgent sales emergencies will inevitably crowd out the operational discipline required to lead the company.
You must treat each seat as an independent post on your Accountability Chart. Your name must appear in both boxes: once as Integrator and once as Head of Sales. Each box must maintain its own five core roles, its own Scorecard measurables, and its own quarterly Rocks.
During your weekly Level 10 Meeting, consciously change hats based on the agenda item. When reviewing sales metrics, speak strictly as the Head of Sales reporting on revenue, pipeline, and conversion rates. When running the rest of the meeting, wear your Integrator hat to manage cross-departmental accountability, track operational Rocks, and facilitate IDS.
Protect your schedule using strict time-blocking. Designate specific, non-negotiable operational blocks for your Integrator duties: one-on-ones with department heads, cross-functional issue resolution, and system reviews. Do not permit sales calls or client demos to intrude into those operational blocks.
Treat dual seat ownership as an operational risk, not a long-term operating model. Your chief priority as Integrator should be standardizing the sales process and building pipeline predictability so that you can evaluate internal successors, pass the GWC test, and cleanly vacate the Head of Sales seat.
Category: Accountability Chart & Seats