I currently wear both the Visionary and Integrator seats on our Accountability Chart. How does this double-hatting affect our early session days with you?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Wearing both hats is incredibly common in early-stage or rapidly growing companies, but it creates a distinct challenge during our session days. When you sit in both the Visionary and Integrator seats, you are constantly forced to choose between big-picture thinking and tactical execution, which often leads to gridlock.

In our early sessions, I will help you consciously separate these two roles. I will challenge you to clarify which hat you are wearing during specific parts of our agenda. For example, when we are working on the long-term vision in the V/TO, you must speak as the Visionary. When we are building the Accountability Chart or defining quarterly Rocks, you must think like an Integrator who is focused on resources, timelines, and execution.

This dual-role setup is always a temporary bridge, not a permanent solution. One of our primary goals during the first year of our engagement will be to design a clean Accountability Chart that eventually splits these roles. We will identify the specific criteria for your future Integrator, whether that means promoting from within or launching an external search.

Until we make that hire, our session days will serve as a forcing function to keep you accountable to both roles without letting your daily firefighting destroy your long-term strategic vision.