Lobsiger on The Perfect Mix: The Role of Visionaries and Integrators

Inside a collision shop, we have different types of products that, when mixed, create a chemical reaction. I am not a chemist, nor was chemistry ever my strong suit. One thing I do know like many of the readers here is if you fail to put, say, the right amount of hardener in primer, basecoat, clear etc., bad things happen! After four decades of collision repair, unfortunately I have seen almost every possible mistake in the paint department. Besides the paint department, chemical reactions even happen in the body department with adhesives, fillers, seam sealers etc. 

Chemical reactions are constantly happening around us and in us. Plants and trees with photosynthesis are turning carbon dioxide into oxygen and without them, life on planet earth would cease. Smart phones would be useless if not for the electricity created by the battery inside them. The chemical reactions happening inside our bodies in each second are literally in the trillions or nearly incalculable. Just think of how our body creates hydrochloric acid, pepsin, etc. to digest food. As I have stated before, the Bible says we’re “Fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Inside our shops there is a chemical reaction that can take place, but without it a shop can still survive but will unlikely ever thrive. This reaction is very similar to space exploration and how satellites were put into orbit. Could we survive on Earth if rockets were never launched into space? Well, Earth survived thousands of years prior to Sputnik being launched by the Soviets in 1957. Here is reality: just think if there were NO satellites. We would have no GPS navigation, very limited cell phone coverage, a global financial crisis would very likely occur, weather forecasting would be very limited, etc. We would return basically to an analog world, and it would cripple global infrastructure.

There are nearly 15,000 active satellites orbiting the earth right now. This would’ve never been possible if it were not for the crucial discovery of the chemical reaction of rocket fuel by American physicist Robert Goddard in 1909. The current SpaceX-Falcon uses a combination of kerosene and liquid oxygen for its propellent. 

After 15 years of being involved in Mike Anderson’s 20 groups, I have seen many shop owners grow from one store to two, three, four and a few to 10+ shops. Some, even though not adding additional locations, grew from $1,000,000 per year to $8,000,000 in sales. A few, on the other hand, are stagnant. They have stayed at basically the same gross sales for years with maybe just 3% growth due to inflation.

So, what is the difference between the rocket ships (shops) going into space vs the shops never getting off the launch pad? There is book called “Rocket Fuel” by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters that was recommended to me by a friend who owned a regional MSO. The book talks about the Visionary, the Integrator, and the relationship between them. The Visionary is the idea generator; they look at the big picture, enjoy seeing the future, and have a hunter mentality. The Integrator is built to run the Day-to-Day; they make things happen, keep the bus moving AND on time. They filter all the Visionary’s ideas while helping them to focus on the best and forget the rest.

Many owners with their shop still on the launch pad for years are likely doing both roles of being the Visionary and the Integrator (that used to be me). If we think we can do both roles well, we are wrong! Even if things are going well for the owner doing both roles, you can’t do this forever, and what would happen to your business if you got sick, injured, etc.? That bus would stop!

Back to the shops I have seen over the years that have had very high growth along with high profits, what was the difference? The owner started out wearing both the Visionary and Integrator hats, then with purpose found someone to take over the Integrator role. It may have been an existing employee that assumed the role or someone new brought in. When these roles are separated into two different people, the CEO and COO, this creates a chemical reaction in the business. With the right people in the right roles, the business will take off the launch pad and then out of this world. Once I found my Integrator, gross sales for my business took off like a hockey stick and as I am writing this, we just acquired another location.

Examples: Walt Disney and Roy Disney (Walt’s brother), Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Bill Gates, and Steve Ballmer were perfect examples of the “Rocket Fuel” chemical reactions created to produce these multi-billion-dollar companies of Walt Disney, Apple, and Microsoft. NOW, GO FIND THAT INTEGRATOR!