The Integrator role is not for the faint of heart. To wear the distinction of Integrator, you have to be prepared to balance the onslaught of new ideas from your Visionary with the real, in-the-trenches work that delivers results and moves the business forward.
This balancing act is an even more precarious one for a company’s first Integrator.
Unique Challenges and Opportunities for the First Integrator
Being the first person at a company to own the Integrator seat is particularly challenging for a few reasons. Not only are you managing the complications that can come with establishing role clarity between you and your Visionary counterpart, but you’re also learning the business’s operating system and finding your place in managing it.
Role Clarity Challenges
One of the most common challenges for a first-time Visionary/Integrator™ Duo is role clarity. Integrators and Visionaries are inherently different in their approaches, priorities, and their overall DNA, and because of that, there’s tension.
- It can be hard to understand where the other person is coming from
- Either partner might struggle to see the value the other person brings
- Establishing a division of labor and drawing a line in the sand for which things each person owns can lead to tripping over each other and duplicate efforts
Role Clarity Opportunities
The first opportunity duos have to overcome the tension created by their differences is through assessments like the Rocket Fuel Power Index. When both the Visionary and Integrator take the assessment and talk over their results together, they can begin to identify where they want their relationship to be and use that to realign their partnership.
Delegating high-level tasks and responsibilities is notoriously difficult for Visionary-types. They’ve likely been burnt before after delegating a task to someone else so they can have a tendency to hold on to things that they shouldn’t be doing.
That is where your biggest opportunity lies to demonstrate your value. Utilize tools like the Delegate and Elevate™ Tool and make good on your promises to develop trust within your V/I Duo™.
Operating System Challenges
Learning the complete set of tools and processes that make up a business’s operating system can look different for different Integrators depending on whether their organization has created its own or if it has adopted an existing one.
For some Integrators, their new organization will have adopted an existing business operating system and is somewhere along the journey in implementing it. As the Integrator, it will be your job to manage that operating system and keep your people accountable within it. Your challenge will be to learn it inside and out and use its framework to execute the company’s vision.
Others, however, may join a team without a defined operating system or one they’ve built from pieces of past experiences. This instance typically poses an even greater challenge and in some cases a complete overhaul to successfully perform your role.
Operating System Opportunities
Regardless of your organization’s current business operating system, it is yours to own and manage. Despite the challenge, you do have an opportunity to overhaul the existing system with something simple, proven, and practical.
Rocket Fuel™ concepts and tools are inspired by the holistic methods of the Entrepreneurial Operating System®. By bringing this operating system to your business you’ll empower your organization with a comprehensive framework to find greater freedom, success, and scalability. To start bringing this system to the organization you can:
- Read Traction and Rocket Fuel
- Schedule a 15 Minute intro call to talk to someone about bringing in an EOS Implementer®
- Join the free Rocket Fuel™ Community
Deep Dive Into Integrator Mastery
Owning the role of being an organization’s first Integrator isn’t easy, but you don’t have to face it alone. Rocket Fuel University is equipped with a complete supply of resources to help you level up and master your role.
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