Mark C Winters explains why leaders wearing multiple hats creates confusion. When a visionary also fills another role, people don't know which version they're talking to. Integrators should ask directly: "Who am I talking to right now?" This clarity often helps visionaries see they need to delegate and focus.
Lets talk about hats. By hats, I mean the roles a person fills in a company. For example, a visionary may still sit in another seat on the accountability chart. So that person would have a visionary hat and a hat for whatever other seat or seats they're filling. It can be done, but it's really hard. The trouble is they simply cannot be fully invested in each role. The visionary has to switch hats continually for the different roles they fill and and sometimes they struggle to do both jobs. Well, early on or as a company grows quickly, leaders often temporarily fill multiple seats out of necessity. While necessary. This can cause a lot of confusion. Everyone in the company must understand which hat the visionary is wearing whenever they interact with them. A conversation with the visionary will go much differently than with the sales leader or whatever other seat they may sit in. Integrators in particular have to ask the visionary, who am I talking to right now? I've seen that question alone. Really effective in reminding a visionary how having multiple hats can complicate things. Plus, when the visionary sits in another seat in the company, they have to play by the same rules as anyone else in that role. So if an integrator is speaking to a visionary when they're wearing their sales leader hat, technically the integrator is in charge. And the visionary has to accept that the visionary and integrator need to be on the same page in these situations. The integrator has to verify and re emphasize the importance of of knowing which hat the visionary is wearing in each interaction. So many times when an integrator does that and has a really good direct conversation around the confusion, it gives the visionary a breakthrough. They often realize they really need and want someone else to fill those extra seats so they can just focus on being a great visionary. Then they're finally ready to make the needed people changes and know that it's for the greater good of their organization.
