I am the Visionary and have successfully transitioned the daily operations to our new Integrator, but when customer complaints spike, I find myself jumping in to direct the customer service team. My Integrator says I am undermining her. How do we stop this?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You are experiencing classic Visionary withdrawal. It is hard to let go of the daily battles you spent years fighting, but your intervention is actively damaging your organization's structure. When you jump in to solve problems, you bypass your Integrator and teach the staff that they do not need to respect the Accountability Chart.

To stop this meddling, you must respect the boundaries of your own seat. Your name is in the Visionary seat, and your roles are big ideas, key relationships, and culture. Your Integrator's name is in the Integrator seat, and her roles include managing daily operations and executing the business plan. Customer service reports up through operations to her, not to you.

The next time a customer complaint spikes, you must force yourself to pause. Instead of talking to the customer service team, go directly to your Integrator. Present the issue as an observation, not a directive. Say, I noticed a spike in customer complaints this week, and I am handing this to you to handle.

If you cannot resist the urge to intervene, you need to physically remove yourself from the daily operational environment. Work from a different office or limit your communication channels. Trust your Integrator to run the Level 10 Meetings and manage her team. If she handles the issue differently than you would have, you must accept it, as long as she gets the desired result. Your job is to stay at the thirty thousand foot view so she can run the ground game.