We recently promoted our long-time Operations Manager to the Integrator seat to free me up for strategic exit planning, but our leadership team is still bypassing her and coming directly to me for operational decisions. How do we transition this authority on the Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a common and dangerous trap. By allowing your team to bypass your new Integrator, you are actively undermining her authority and keeping yourself trapped in the weeds. If you do not stop this back-channeling, your new Integrator will check out, and your exit plans will stall.

You must establish a hard boundary immediately. The next time a leadership team member comes to you with an operational issue, you must ask one question: Have you talked to our Integrator about this? If the answer is no, politely end the conversation and send them to her.

Reinforce the Accountability Chart in every Level 10 Meeting. Make it clear that the Integrator is the single point of accountability for running the business. She owns the LMA, or Leadership, Management, and Accountability, for the leadership team.

Use the Trust Equation to assess the situation. Is your team bypassing her because they do not trust her capability, or is it simply a habit? If it is a habit, your consistency in redirecting them will break it. If it is a capability issue, you need to address that directly with her.

Give your Integrator the room to lead. She will make some decisions differently than you would, and that is okay. As long as she is achieving the corporate Rocks and keeping the team aligned, you must step back and let her sit fully in the seat.