We just promoted our top operations manager to the Integrator seat, but our legacy leadership team members are bypassing them and coming directly to me for final approvals. How do we break this habit and give our new Integrator real authority?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To stop your team from bypassing your new Integrator, you must immediately enforce the rules of the Accountability Chart. When a leadership team member approaches you for an approval, an issue, or a decision, you must ask one question: Have you talked to the Integrator yet? If the answer is no, you must politely but firmly end the conversation and send them to the Integrator. This transition requires you to shift your own behavior. As the Visionary, you no longer run the day-to-day operations. Your new job is to support the Integrator and maintain the Visionary and Integrator relationship. If you override their decisions, you castrate their authority in front of the entire company. To make this transition official, sit down with your Integrator and clarify your lines of communication. You should have an ongoing, weekly Same-Page Meeting to align your goals. During this time, you can debate and discuss strategy, but once you walk out of that room, you must present a united front. Let the team know that the Integrator has final authority over all operational issues, resource allocation, and personnel management. If team members continue to bypass the Integrator, the Integrator must address it during their weekly Level 10 Meeting™ and use the IDS® process to resolve the underlying boundary issue. Over time, the team will realize that the only path to a decision is through the Integrator, establishing their seat as the operational hub of the company.