What the Heck Is an Integrator (and Why You Might Need One)

Most growing businesses hit a stage when the wheels start to wobble. It might show up in cash flow issues, team stress, delivery delays, sluggish sales, or troubling customer feedback. Something happens. When it does, many founders look for a tactical source. But more often than not, the source of the issue is systemic, and it's at the top. It’s not burnout. It’s a broken operating model. Some telling signs are:

• The founder is still in every meeting.

• Every urgent task lands on the same few people.

• Big ideas get talked about… but never seem to make it past the whiteboard.

If that sounds familiar, your business might not have an execution problem. You might have an integration problem. Let’s break it down.

Visionaries Build the Future

In most companies, there’s one person with the vision. They’re the founder, the CEO, or the driving force.
They see the opportunities, talk to customers, and generate energy. They imagine the possibilities. They come up with the ideas no one else on the team would imagine, they make connections no one else could make, and they see around corners with a logic that is both irrefutable and... illogical. Their head is constantly in the future -- three quarters, three years, or three decades ahead.

But vision alone doesn’t build a business and eventually, the visionary starts drowning in decisions and operations:

• Who’s responsible for this project?

• Why are we losing our best candidates?

• Why is marketing blocked?

• Why didn’t this thing ship when we said it would?

• Why can't we get the reports we need?

• Why is everyone so stressed out?

In larger enterprises, that chaos is managed by a COO—with support from project managers, analysts, and entire departments. But on a team of 10-50 you don't have that, and your scale can only support one full-time chief executive - YOU. So, what do you do?

This is the moment where a business needs a second role: the Integrator. An Integrator owns how the business runs so the Visionary can focus on where it’s going. The Integrator is the "How" to your "Why".

So, What The Heck Is An Integrator?

The term Integrator comes from the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)—a business framework created by Gino Wickman to help companies run more smoothly. In EOS, every organization has two essential leadership roles: the Visionary and the Integrator. The Visionary is the big-picture thinker with the bold ideas. The Integrator is the person who turns those ideas into reality—by managing execution, aligning teams, and creating operational clarity. Think of famous duos like Walt and Roy Disney, or Jobs and Cook at Apple. One dreamed. The other delivered. That balance is exactly what the Integrator role is designed to create. For the Integrator role, the focus is on:

• Translating big-picture goals into day-to-day priorities

• Clarifying roles, accountability, and ownership

• Driving execution across teams

• Fixing broken workflows and inefficient handoffs

• Establishing communication rhythms that keep everyone aligned

The Integrator doesn’t just keep the trains running—they make sure the tracks are laid, the stations are built, and the tickets are sold before the train shows up.

My Story

About 4 years after starting my own business, I got to the point described above, and the wheels started getting very wobbly in multiple areas. ALL of the symptoms listed above showed up: I was still in every meeting. Every urgent task landed on the same few people. Big ideas got talked about… but never seem to make it past the whiteboard or didn't launch well. Profitability dropped. People were getting stressed. I realized that I was trying to fill two very different roles - that of the person IN the spotlight and the person operating the spotlight. This experience led me to realize that I am a better fit for the operator role, the Integrator.

Do You Need An Integrator?

You might, if:

• You’re overwhelmed but can’t figure out what to delegate and to whom

• Your team is talented but uncoordinated

• Your priorities and accountabilities keep shifting

• Your strategy has too many "and"s in it, lacking focus

• You’ve got traction… but execution is chaotic

• You’re the only one driving accountability

• You’re constantly in the weeds instead of the big picture

You don’t necessarily need a full-time COO.
But you do need someone to hold the pieces together—and make progress feel inevitable, not optional.

That’s What I Do.

If that sounds familiar, let’s talk. Whether it’s a one-time strategy session or a longer engagement, even a brief conversation can bring clarity to what’s stuck—and what to do about it. I work with founders and small teams in exactly this stage.

Founders, which end of the spotlight are you on?