Bob Lucci recently shared with me an article he wrote, entitled Mr./Mrs. CEO: Who is your Charlie Munger? Bob is looking for his next COO assignment. Check out his LinkedIn profile by clicking on his name.
Bob starts the article by telling us that Charlie Munger is the COO for Warren Buffet. He also mentions that Bill Gates had Steve Ballmer. I always think of Larry Ellison of Oracle having Ray Layne. All successful #1′s complemented by great #2′s.
In EOS terminology we refer to these two seats in a company as the Visionary and the Integrator.
A Visionary is a leader who is often focused on big ideas, big relationships and the culture of the company. Removing obstacles for other executives in the firm, conflict management, and deciding what is the best financial or tactical decision for the company at a moment in time are not what excites this type of executive.
An Integrator is a leader whose natural talent is competently directing all the moving parts of a business. The integrator likes starting at A and getting to B, when expected, with the results predicted. Logic trumps emotion in the make up of these executives.
Both are important to a company. But equally important is that their roles and responsibilities at the company match their natural abilities and talents. If they don’t then they, and everyone else, have to work a lot harder to achieve the desired results. And everyone is less happy.
The icons named earlier are people and companies who figured this out. EOS implementers help their clients work this out.
How is it working at your company?
Photo: Wikipedia article
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }