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In our last blog, we introduced the notion that many of the most successful and enduring companies have, or had, an inside/outside leadership pair—what  my EOS® colleagues and I call a Visionary and Integrator team. As we illustrated last week, Visionaries and Integrators couldn’t be more different in terms of how they lead and problem solve. They are the Yin and the Yang of leadership. Today we’ll discuss the key characteristics of Visionaries and Integrators to better explain how they complement each other.

We’ll start with the key characteristics of a Visionary.

A Visionary:

• Is often a founding entrepreneur
• Has lots of ideas
• Is a strategic thinker
• Always sees the big picture
• Has a pulse on the industry and target market
• Loves the research and development of new products and services
• Is easily distracted
• Manages big relationships (e.g. customer, vendor, industry)
• Keeps the company culture alive (provides inspiration)
• Leads with emotion
• Is good at creative problem solving (handles big problems)
• Creates the company vision and protects it
• Typically sells and closes big deals
• Gets involved with customers and employees when needed
• Loves to connect the dots
• Occasionally does the work, provides the service, makes the product

In short, Visionaries are passionate, big picture people who are easily distracted and love to put 100 pounds in a 50 pound bag.  As you can imagine, they are pretty good at creating chaos. For this reason, organizations that are run by Visionaries typically find themselves yearning for more stability and control. Often times this stability comes in the form of Integrators.

Unlike a Visionary, an Integrator has the unique ability to manage daily issues as they come up while also integrating all the major functions of the business–sales, marketing, client services, operations, and finance – into one harmonious group.  Put simply, the Integrator acts as the glue that keeps the team together.

Here are some other key characteristics typically associated with an Integrator. An Integrator:

• Has clarity
• Excels at communication
• Provides resolution
• Has focus
• Is accountable
• Promotes team unity
• Leads with logic
• Is good at project management
• Follows through
• Serves as the tie breaker
• Removes obstacles and barriers
• Prioritizes
• Drives execution
• Is a steady force
• Beats the drum
• Is accountable for P&L results
• Executes the business plan
• Leads, manages, and holds the leadership team accountable

As we pointed out in Part One, most of us get that we cannot be great at all things or be all things at once. I’m curious if you have ever met anyone who genuinely possesses the key characteristics of both a Visionary and an Integrator. If you have, I would love to hear about her or him and the success of her/his firm in the comment section below.

In our next couple of blogs, we will continue to discuss Visionaries and Integrators. We will provide an overview of how the typical Visionary/Integrator team leads while referring to what we call the Accountability Chart. We’ll also go over the essential ingredients necessary for any great V/I team, discuss why most organizations eventually falter without a strong V/I team, and explain what to do if you don’t have both or lose one member of a V/I team. When the series is done, we hope you will have a pretty good sense for why V/I teams are not only powerful but almost essential for enduring success.

Until then, be well.

I have always had characteristics of Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD. Love big ideas, reaching for the stars, and building things. Pretty good at seeing how things are interrelated. Have a critical mind in both the best and worst of ways. My way of looking at the world lets me instinctively know that we can always make things better. It also leaves me paranoid about someone else getting there first. To me, this potential for improvement is obvious. Look at where the world is today versus just ten years ago. Look at the amazing new products we now take for granted like the iPhone and iPad. Think about the fact that billions of us now have access to almost an infinite amount of knowledge and consequently an infinite array of opportunities. It’s incredible, if not a bit overwhelming, and it’s all due to man’s insatiable need to make things better for himself.

My passion for making things better combined with my love of the big picture means I often find myself trying to do too many things, losing focus, and creating confusion and a little chaos. I have what we refer to at EOS® as a “visionary” mind versus an “integrator” mind. This “visionary” mind can be its own worst enemy.

Looking back at my career, it’s clear I have been at my best when this visionary “Yang” was counter balanced by a “Yin.” These “Yins,” and I have been blessed with many, have helped me focus and execute in a disciplined and thoughtful manner. I sought out these partners because I instinctively knew, and still do, that I needed a Yin for my Yang to flourish.

Some people refer to these Yin/Yang teams as inside-outside leadership pairs. As I mentioned above, at EOS we call them “Visionaries” and “Integrators.” One of the key things we’ve learned during more than a decade of working closely with hundreds of senior leadership teams is that many of the best, most successful, and most enduring companies had both a Visionary and an Integrator. You can probably think of numerous examples of V/I teams that support this observation. My exemplars include: Apple’s Jobs and Wozniak, and later Jobs and Cook; Hewlett and Packard; Intel’s Moore and Grove; Google’s Page and Brin; Disney’s Walt and Roy, and later Eisner and Wells; Berkshire’s Buffet and Munger; Microsoft’s Gates and Allen, and later Gates and Balmer; and others in that same vein. Have your own exemplars?  Please share them in the comments section below.

We all get that we cannot be great at all things or be all things to all people but how many of us leaders still try? And to what end?

Over the next several blogs, we will enumerate the characteristics of Visionaries and Integrators. We’ll also cover why most organizations eventually falter without a strong V/I team, and what to do if you don’t have both or lose one. When the series is done, we hope you will have a pretty good sense for why V/I teams are not only powerful but almost essential for enduring success.

Until then, be well.