The Visionary and Integrator Manifest: A Two Page Rule Book
A CEO and a COO had never settled who decides what. The CEO did not want to give up the decision rights, even while being poor at operations. The chart said one thing. The decisions said another.
We did not add a tool. We went decision by decision and asked in which cases it must be true that the CEO gives up the authority, and in which cases the CEO holds on to it, for the right reasons or the wrong ones. Then we wrote it down as a manifest: a rule book for when each of them operates and when they do not.
This is the two page version, free and open. Page one says who operates when. Page two says what must be true for authority to move, how often the Visionary may step in, how disagreements get settled, when you review it and who signs. I learned why it matters at Arcules, where I handed over the Integrator role in responsibility long before I handed it over in authority.
The Visionary and Integrator manifest
When does the Visionary operate, when does the Integrator operate, and what moves authority between them?
What you get
- Page one: the Integrator's decisions, the Visionary's and the shared ones
- Page two: what moves authority and what sends it back
- The step in rule, the tie break and the review cadence
- Signature lines, print and CSV
Every line below is a starting example of ours. Overwrite, delete and add until both of you would sign it. Keep it to two pages.
Page one. Who operates when
The Integrator decides, with no check back
| Rule |
|---|
| Weekly priorities, and who works on what |
| Hiring below the leadership team, inside the approved plan |
| Process changes and the operations manual |
| Budget moves inside the approved plan |
| Running the weekly leadership meeting and the issues list |
| Customer escalations inside the agreed service terms |
The Visionary decides
| Rule |
|---|
| The three year picture and the annual plan, with the leadership team |
| Big customer, partner and investor relationships |
| Culture and the core values |
| The Integrator seat itself |
| Capital, and anything that sells or merges the company |
Decided together
| Rule |
|---|
| Leadership team hires and exits |
| New products or new markets |
| Anything that breaks the annual plan |
Page two. How authority moves, and how it comes back
What must be true for a decision to move to the Integrator
| Rule |
|---|
| The decision is written on page one with its limits |
| The Integrator can see the result in the weekly scorecard |
| The decision has run one quarter at rung 3 of the Decision Rights Ladder without being reversed |
| The Visionary has said out loud, in the leadership meeting, that the decision has moved |
What sends a decision back to the Visionary
| Rule |
|---|
| A number tied to the decision is off track for two months |
| The decision breaks the annual plan or a core value |
| The Integrator asks for it back |
The step in rule
| Rule |
|---|
| The Visionary may step in on an Integrator decision once a quarter, in the open, with the reason stated |
| A second step in within the same quarter goes on the issues list as an issue about this manifest, not about the decision |
How disagreements get settled
| Rule |
|---|
| Inside page one, the owner of the list decides |
| Anything in both lists goes to the leadership meeting issues list and is settled within two weeks |
| If it is still open, a named third party breaks the tie: for example the board chair or an outside advisor |
Review cadence
| Rule |
|---|
| First review 30 days after signing |
| Then every quarter at quarterly planning, 15 minutes, one question per line: keep, move or remove |
Signatures
| Seat | Name | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visionary | |||
| Integrator |
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Independence
Leaders ADAPT is independent: we are not affiliated with, certified by or endorsed by EOS Worldwide or any other framework owner. Visionary and Integrator are EOS terms, popularised in the book Rocket Fuel, and are used only to describe the two seats. The manifest is our own template, and no proprietary worksheet is reproduced.
Where this fits
The manifest belongs to the Visionary stuck in operations guide, and it is the written layer on top of the Decision Rights Ladder.
- The Visionary stuck in operationsThe hub. How a founder gets out of the operating seat.
- Chief of staff vs COO vs IntegratorWhich second seat holds which decisions.
- The AI chief of staffThe same two page structure, written for agents.
- The Decision Rights LadderMove each decision one rung at a time.
Common questions
What is a Visionary and Integrator manifest?
It is a two page rule book agreed between the Visionary and the Integrator. Page one lists which decisions each of them owns and which they make together. Page two lists what must be true for authority to move, when the Visionary may step in, how disagreements are settled, how often it is reviewed, and both signatures.
When should a Visionary and an Integrator write one?
When the chart says the Integrator runs operations but the decisions that matter still go back to the Visionary. That gap between responsibility and authority is one of the most common reasons the second seat stalls. Write it before the next quarterly planning session and review it 30 days after signing.
Can the Visionary still overrule the Integrator?
Yes, by rule rather than by habit. The manifest sets how often the Visionary may step in, in the open and with a reason. A step in beyond that goes to the issues list as a question about the manifest. Quiet overruling does more damage than the decision it replaced.
Does the manifest work for AI agents too?
The same structure works. For an agent, page one lists what it may do on its own and page two lists what it must never do or must escalate to a named person. Write it for the human seats first, then copy the structure for any AI chief of staff you run.
Write it with someone who has sat in both chairs
What it is: 1:1 advisory with Andreas Pettersson, the work this manifest came from: deciding with a CEO which decisions move to the second seat and which stay. Who it is for: Visionaries and CEOs whose Integrator has the responsibility but not yet the authority.