One of the most powerful EOS^® tools is the Accountability Chart. It’s powerful because it crystallizes the right structure and illustrates all available seats in your organization. In addition, it clarifies who reports to who and who is accountable for what.

All that said, it also illuminates the Visionary and Integrator roles sitting atop the major functions of your business. An organization has a Visionary about 50 percent of the time, and it must have an Integrator 100 percent of the time.

In an entrepreneurial company, the roles of Visionary and Integrator are an essential part of the organization, no matter how big or how small. The Visionary and the Integrator couldn’t be more different in terms of how they think and problem-solve. However, when their individual Unique Ability^® is correctly matched together and they are working toward the same business goals, the results can be exciting.

The Visionary entrepreneur’s passion, drive, and creativity are the key elements that help launch a business and fuel a company’s growth. But when a company is growing, the Visionary entrepreneur can start to feel swamped with the overwhelming workload, and their momentum begins to stall and sputter. Every great Visionary hits this threshold.

"I'm not sure I'm the right person to run this company."

As I started the EOS^® process with a marketing agency, the CEO told his leadership team that he wasn't sure that he was the right person to run the business. He gave everyone full permission to speak up at any time during their exercise if they thought he wasn't the right person.

It was clear that he was anxious. He wanted to do the right thing for the team and the business, and he didn't want any elephants in the room.

This CEO was unusual—not because of his doubts, but because of his honesty.

Are you a recovering Visionary? You know the type – lots of big ideas, always inventing something new, a little light on the focusing, heavy on the creating, worried about the company culture, and incredibly impatient. I’m a recovering Visionary, myself.

Visionaries can clearly see a future. Our problem is that we keep changing it, and that can get in the way of our success as leaders. It’s rooted in what I call the “Free to Be Me” syndrome of Visionary leaders.

Imagine you’ve founded a service business with about 100 employees. When asked, you explain your role as being involved with everything, especially Sales and Marketing, and Operations. One day, as you arrive at your weekly meeting, your right-hand man tells you, “You’re fired.”