Management

Visionary and integrator tandem creates mix for EOS success

by Barbara Voorhees

What is EOS and why your business should consider it

EOS (a registered trademark of EOS Worldwide) stands for Entrepreneurial Operating System. It comes from the book Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman. EOS lays out a complete set of simple concepts and tools designed to help business owners and their teams clarify and execute their vision, become a healthier and more functional team, and successfully grow their business.

There are more companies using EOS to run their organizations in Minnesota than in any other market. Business owners are attracted to its easily relatable concepts and tools. Whether a business tries a few tools for its particular situation, implements EOS by itself, or hires a trained Implementer to work with its team, EOS has grown a strong following in Minnesota.

Key Players

EOS revolves around three critical roles:

• The visionary, typically the business owner, is the person with the vision and ideas for the business. They typically have that big picture ability to solve problems and those big relationships that get companies to the next level.

• The implementer is an external coach, teacher and facilitator. Through a set of meetings with exercises, an implementer helps get the EOS tools in place. With quarterly sessions the implementer gets the team into a rhythm to achieve their goals.

• The integrator is a hands-on member of the leadership team who listens to the visionary’s ideas and then works with the team leadership to make that vision a reality. Integrators orchestrate the business functions and ensure accountability. Integrators free the visionary from the day-to-day, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives and relationships. Integrators rank high in operations skills, marketing/sales expertise, and financial acumen.

The role of the integrator

Many companies are founded by visionaries, and as the company grows the visionary fills the integrator role. However, few are able to do this successfully for long because the skill sets are so different. These visionaries find that operating the business with its many details is not for them and that having someone who can lead the major company functions, maintain accountability, and manage the day-to-day is the right answer.

Like a chief operating officer or general manager, the integrator supports the visionary by directing the team. Integrators are well-versed in business operations and processes. They understand how each of the functions works individually and also how they work together. This knowledge creates alignment that gets everyone rowing in the same direction.

Integrators get to the root of issues and resolve them effectively. Integrators act as the tiebreaker while maintaining unity within the organization.

With profits and losses in mind, they remove obstacles so employees can do their work efficiently. Integrators run on logic and obsess over focus, simplicity, and clarity.

Full-time or fractional integrators

A visionary may think they don’t have the budget to hire an integrator. If you are a visionary, ask yourself these three questions:

• Do I feel trapped by day-to-day operations?

• Do I have a pressing problem that isn’t being addressed?

• Are we missing out on opportunities?

If you answered yes to these questions, you are ready to dive deeper into having someone fill the integrator role.

The next question that comes up is affordability. Hiring a full-time or a fractional (part-time) integrator is based on needs, business size and budget. A full-time integrator provides someone on-site, 40-hours-per-week, while a fractional integrator can help a company bridge the gap until they are ready for a full-time integrator.

Making it Work

When a visionary works with an integrator, it will allow the visionary to let go of some control and stressing issues. The trust of an integrator gives the visionary freedom and the ability to work fewer hours or move their focus to what they do best.

Finding the right fit is critical to the success of your visionary/integrator relationship, and in the book “Rocket Fuel,” by Gino Wickman and Mark Winters, there are five rules to making this critical relationship work.

1. Stay on the same page — It is essential that the visionary and

integrator are always on the same page. This requires trust, open and honest communication, and the visionary’s willingness to let go.

2. No end runs — In other words, if mom doesn’t say yes, then ask dad. Employees need to understand the integrator’s level of authority and not go around him or her to the visionary, and the visionary needs to make it clear that this sort of end run will not be tolerated.

3. The integrator is the tiebreaker — There are times when issues result in split factions. A good integrator will guide decision-making and act as the tiebreaker when necessary.

4. You are an employee when working in the business — If you are an owner, you must maintain your role within the business and act accordingly, and not exercise your right to play the “owner card.”

5. Maintain mutual respect — Respect is built with trust, which must be earned. The visionary and integrator need to develop a deep level of mutual respect in order for the relationship to work.

Is EOS for you? If you are a visionary, is it time to consider an integrator? Could a fractional integrator get you started? It’s easy to learn more in Minnesota — just ask an owner who is using EOS to get what they want from their business.

Barbara Voorhees is founder of BCV Consulting and Co-Founder of Visionary Integrator Solutions: 612.247.3189; barb@bcv-consulting.com; www.bcv-consulting.com