Are you an entrepreneurial founder or CEO looking for a fractional right hand?
As an entrepreneur, founder / CEO you are the company’s Visionary. You are most valuable when looking over the horizon into the future, proposing new projects, nurturing company culture or developing strategic partnerships. If you are dragged into day-to-day operations you often become overwhelmed and unmotivated. The result is that growth stalls and the business suffers. Enter the need for an EOS® Integrator.
As an EOS® Integrator I help entrepreneurial founders / CEOs regain traction, scale operations, deliver change and increase accountability ultimately freeing you to focus on being the Visionary.
What is EOS® and what is an EOS® Integrator?
EOS® stands for the Entrepreneurial Operating System® a set of simple concepts and practical tools that provide the structure and discipline for entrepreneurial owner-managers to scale their businesses. Originally launched in the US by Gino Wickman, it has become increasingly popular in the UK. EOS is aimed at entrepreneurs with 10-250 employees who feel burned out and/or stuck in a rut with their business.
EOS® enables you to identify and solve issues before they become problems, get the right people in the right seats, run productive meetings and build a culture of accountability. Simplicity sits at its core and it delivers great results.
An EOS® Integrator is one of the two vital roles that enable EOS® to work. There is a Visionary (a.k.a. Founder, Owner, CEO) and there is an Integrator (a.k.a. COO, Chief of Staff, Head of Operations).
An Integrator does the following:
- Right-hand to the CEO
- Filters the CEO’s ideas
- Executes the business plan
- Harmoniously integrates the business functions and leadership team
- Holds the leadership team accountable
- Creates organisational clarity
- Takes accountable for the P&L results
- Operates more on logic
- Forces resolution
- Removes obstacles and barriers to growth
- Acts as the organisational glue
Is a fractional EOS® Integrator right for me and my business?
If the answers to the following are yes, then chances are you would benefit from a fractional partner:
- Are you spending too much time working ‘in’ your business and not ‘on’ your business?
- Are you feeling constantly overwhelmed and struggling with day-to-day operations?
- Has growth stalled or become inconsistent?
- Does your senior leadership team need greater clarity and accountability?
- Do you need a trusted partner that can interpret your ideas into actionable projects?
In truth, if you answered yes to the above, you should have considered engaging a fractional Integrator / COO some time ago. Chances are you have reached a point of overwhelm or are struggling to execute at the level you expect.
How does a successful Visionary (CEO) / Integrator (COO) partnership work?
The Visionary (CEO) and Integrator (COO) are very different personalities. As Visionary you inject the passion, drive and creativity required to launch a business and achieve significant year-on-year growth. However, there comes a time when you feel overwhelmed by an ever-increasing workload. You become time poor and risk personal burnout.
This is precisely why you need a right hand that can share the work of integrating the major functions of the business. Delegating these tasks will enable the you to refocus your energy on growth.
As Integrator, I aim to harmoniously integrate the major functions of the business, overcomes cross-functional conflict, enable growth and act as the glue that keeps the team accountable and productive.
Successful CEO / COO
partnerships are built with
trust, respect and a shared vision.
The CEO and COO should counter each other’s weaknesses and enhance each other’s strengths.
A successful CEO / COO partnership is built upon trust, respect and a shared vision. Furthermore, it’s vital that there is a good fit between the CEO and COO and that they recognise each other’s unique value. This is the winning combination that enables a business to gain traction and grow.
The benefits of hiring an external fractional EOS® Integrator
- Firstly, the biggest benefit of a fractional approach is that you can adapt your investment to suit your needs. The Integrator can work in the business regularly, ad hoc or for specific events such as chairing senior leadership team meetings.
- Secondly, you can treat a fractional approach as a trial to understand what you require from your Integrator / COO. A good fractional Integrator will work to replace themselves with a full-time equivalent. They will also help you recruit your permanent COO / Integrator.
- And thirdly, an external EOS® Integrator will provide objective advice and guidance because they are not working ‘in’ the business day-to-day. This allows them to be a catalyst for making hard but necessary decisions.
- Additionally, hiring a senior executive is a lengthy, costly and inherently risky process (on average a new COO takes up to 12 months to become fully embedded and effective). In comparison, hiring a fractional COO / Integrator is straightforward and will save you both time and budget in benefits, bonuses, equipment, etc.
