When two leaders disagree, the integrator breaks the tie. Mark C. Winters explains why visionaries need to trust this call: integrators are closer to the details and usually make better day-to-day decisions. It frees the visionary to focus on strategy.
Pop quiz time. Two functional leaders in a company are split between two different solutions to an issue. They're at a stalemate and they're stuck. Now who breaks the tie? The integrator breaks the tie. This is rule number three in the five rules and five tools from Rocket Fuel. And it's one that visionaries often seem to have a hard time with. We find that visionaries sometimes freak out because they're afraid of letting go. This is actually a great example of another new capability that they need to learn if a visionary really wants to make their business stronger. In our experience, it's not usually about control, but much more about trust. Visionaries need to learn to trust their integrators to make good decisions. And integrators need to help them do that. By earning their trust, visionaries have the ultimate authority. So if an integrator makes a bad decision, that should be addressed in the Visionary Integrator same page meeting. And if an integrator continues to make bad decisions, that visionary may eventually need to replace that integrator for the day to day decisions. Great visionaries should learn to trust their integrator to break ties and make decisions that move the business forward and let them do that without interfering in the process. It all comes down to freedom. When visionaries give their integrators the authority to break ties, it frees up their time. Visionaries get out of the day to day details and spend more time focusing on activities that best move the company forward. Plus, great integrators will actually make better decisions. That's not a knock against visionaries. Integrators are just closer to the details and have a better feel for how a decision will affect the entire organization. So three key points to wrap this one up. Number one, Visionaries, it's normal to feel fear. You're not alone. Number two, on average, the integrator is going to make better decisions. Their ear is just closer to the ground in the organization. And number three, letting go will free the visionary to use their unique abilities for the greater good of the organization.
