You have a three-year vision for the company. But today, you’re running the leadership meeting.
Following up on Rocks and projects.
Solving a disagreement between two leaders.
Answering questions your team should be able to answer.
Reviewing something that shouldn’t require your attention.
Checking whether last week’s decisions actually got implemented.
And the work only you can do keeps getting pushed to tomorrow.
Sound familiar?
At some point, the problem isn’t that you need to delegate more.
You may be trying to occupy two leadership seats. You’re setting the direction and making sure the entire company executes against it. You’re the Visionary and your own #2.
If your goal is to build a company that can run without you, one of the biggest questions you eventually have to answer is:
Who runs it when you aren’t?
What Does a Great #2 Actually Do?
Before deciding whether you need a #2, you need to understand what the role actually is.
A #2 is a function, not necessarily a specific title.
Depending on the company, this person might be called a:
- COO
- President
- Integrator
- General Manager
- Operating Partner
- Or another title specific to the organization
The title matters less than the ownership.
What does this person actually own?
A strong #2 takes the company’s direction and makes sure it gets executed.
They typically:
- Lead the leadership team
- Drive accountability
- Keep priorities moving
- Make sure decisions turn into action
- Resolve cross-functional issues
- Create alignment between departments
- Own day-to-day execution
- Translate the Visionary’s ideas into something the organization can execute
That last point is especially important.
A #2 isn’t simply the person who takes tasks off the Visionary’s plate.
They’re a leader.
Eventually, they need to be capable of leading other leaders.
Are you running on EOS®? You’re probably looking for an Integrator. This article explains what an Integrator does, what they own, and how they work alongside the Visionary to keep the company moving forward.
Sign #1: You're Setting the Vision AND Running the Day-to-Day
One of the clearest signs you may need a second in command is that you’re doing both jobs yourself.
You lead most leadership meetings.
People come to you when leaders disagree.
You regularly check whether things actually got done.
You’re still assigning or following up on work across departments.
Department leaders bypass each other and come directly to you.
You’re involved in decisions several levels below where you should be.
Important initiatives lose momentum unless you personally push them.
And you regularly think: “It’s faster if I just do it.”
Maybe it is. For now.
But being capable of doing something isn’t evidence that you should continue doing it.
Most founders become good at execution because the business required it.
In the early days, there may not have been anyone else to make the decision, solve the problem, manage the project, or hold the team accountable.
So you did it.
Then the company grew.
The company grew. The leadership structure didn’t.
YOU MAY HAVE OUTGROWN YOUR OWN JOB DESCRIPTION.
What got the company here may not be what gets it where you’re trying to take it.
One of the first steps is to identify which leadership seats you’re still carrying.
The goal isn’t to fill every box on an org chart.
It’s to understand which responsibilities still depend on you and which leadership seats the company needs next.
Sign #2: Everything Still Comes Back to You
This goes beyond workload. It’s about dependency.
Ask yourself:
What happens when you’re unavailable?
Can your leaders make significant decisions?
Do projects continue moving?
Can disagreements be resolved without you?
Can priorities change without waiting for your approval?
Can the leadership team hold one another accountable?
Or does everything eventually find its way back to you?
You can have a full leadership team and still have a leadership problem. Every box may be filled on the Accountability Chart. But if you’re still the person holding everything together, the structure isn’t doing what it should.
This is often where cross-functional friction becomes visible.
Leaders aren’t clear on who owns what.
Decisions aren’t sticking.
Departments aren’t communicating effectively.
Issues keep getting escalated.
The answer isn’t always hiring a #2. Sometimes the bigger issue is how the existing leadership team is functioning together.
Understand how your leadership team is actually working together by looking at the patterns behind recurring friction, communication challenges, decision-making, and accountability.
What Is Being Your Own #2 Actually Costing You?
“I’d love to hire someone, but I’m not sure we’re ready for that expense.”
That’s a reasonable concern.
A strong executive is a meaningful investment.
But there’s another question worth asking:
What is the empty seat already costing you?
The cost isn’t always obvious on a P&L. Sometimes it shows up in four places.
1. Your Time
Start with your calendar.
How much of your week is spent doing work another capable leader could own?
Don’t try to assign a universal dollar value to every hour.
Ask a different question:
If you got 10, 20, or 30 hours back every week, where could those hours create more value?
What would you build?
Who would you meet?
What opportunities would you pursue?
What problems would you finally have time to solve?
The value of a #2 isn’t simply measured by the tasks they take over.
It’s also measured by what becomes possible when you stop doing those tasks.
2. Speed
When too many decisions require one person, that person becomes a queue.
Projects wait.
Decisions wait.
Problems get escalated.
Teams wait for answers.
Priorities lose momentum.
This doesn’t happen because the Visionary is a bad leader.
It happens because too many things require one person’s attention.
A company can only move as quickly as its decision-making structure allows.
If everything needs to pass through you, your capacity becomes the company’s capacity.
3. Opportunities
This is where the cost can become much bigger than your workload.
When you’re managing internal execution, what aren’t you doing?
Maybe you’re not spending enough time selling.
Or marketing.
Or speaking.
Or creating.
Or building relationships.
Or thinking about where the business needs to be three years from now.
Every Visionary’s list will be different.
But there is usually work they aren’t doing because the company is consuming their attention elsewhere.
The question isn’t simply, “What can I delegate?”
It’s:
Where can I make the greatest impact if I stop spending my time on work someone else can own?
An Impact Clarifier™ can help you identify where your time and strengths create the most value.
4. Your Energy Outside the Business
There’s also a cost that doesn’t show up on a spreadsheet.
Stress.
Sleep.
Family.
Relationships.
Health.
Enjoyment.
At one stage of building VisionSpark, Alec Broadfoot found himself managing so much internal execution that running the company simply wasn’t fun anymore.
That’s an important signal.
You probably didn’t become an entrepreneur so the company could eventually own all of your time.
The goal isn’t to build a business that needs you everywhere.
The goal is to build one where your involvement creates disproportionate value.
“I Don't Think I Can Afford a #2.”
A strong #2 isn’t a small investment.
But the question shouldn’t be only:
What will this person cost?
It should be:
What should become possible because this person is here?
A capable #2 can create the conditions for:
- Faster execution
- Stronger accountability
- Better leadership of functional leaders
- More time for the Visionary
- Fewer decisions bottlenecked at the top
- More attention to growth opportunities
- A company less dependent on one individual
The right question isn’t whether you can afford another executive in isolation.
It’s whether the company has reached a point where continuing without one is creating a larger cost.
That requires clarity about the role before you ever start recruiting.
If you want to understand how VisionSpark hires senior leaders, our proven process starts with understanding the business, the role, and the person the company actually needs.
What Should the Visionary Actually Be Doing?
Getting out of the day-to-day doesn’t mean disappearing.
It means becoming more useful to the company in a different way.
The Visionary’s work should increasingly center on things that require their perspective, relationships, creativity, and ability to see what comes next.
New products.
New services.
New ideas.
New ways of doing things.
The Visionary can create space for what’s next instead of spending every day maintaining what’s already there.
Important clients.
Referral partners.
Strategic partners.
Future opportunities.
Some relationships can materially change the trajectory of a company.
They require time and attention.
What is changing in the market?
What do customers need next?
Where could the company go?
What could threaten the business?
What opportunities are emerging?
Someone needs to be looking beyond the current quarter.
Speaking.
Podcasting.
Content.
Events.
Evangelizing the company’s ideas.
The Visionary often has a unique ability to communicate why the company exists and where it’s going.
That story matters.
This will be different for every Visionary.
Maybe it’s selling.
Maybe it’s product development.
Maybe it’s strategic relationships.
Maybe it’s innovation.
Maybe it’s being the face of the company.
Maybe it’s something nobody else can do quite the same way.
That’s the point.
Your role should be designed around where you create the most value, not around everything you’ve historically been willing to do.
The Part Nobody Talks About: "What Will I Do?"
There’s another reason founders struggle to step away from the day-to-day. They’ve spent years being needed everywhere. So when they’re no longer needed everywhere, it can feel strange.
Will the team think I’m lazy?
Will they still value me?
What am I supposed to do all day?
Am I giving up control?
What if they do things differently than I would?
These aren’t operational questions. They’re identity questions.
A Visionary has to redefine what being valuable to the organization looks like.
Your value doesn’t have to come from being the person who fixes everything.
When John came aboard at VisionSpark, Alec experienced what happened when he no longer had to carry every operational responsibility himself.
He had more free days.
More time for tennis.
More family vacations.
Time to write his book.
More podcasts and speaking opportunities.
More relationships.
More energy coming into work.
And eventually, something even more important happened.
"I fell in love with my business again." -Alec Broadfoot
That’s what creating leverage can look like.
Not working less because you care less.
Having more capacity to do the work that matters.
What Would You Do With 20–30 Hours Back?
Don’t think about what you’d stop doing.
Think about what you’d start doing.
If you had another 20 hours every week:
What customer would you spend more time with?
What relationship would you build?
What service would you create?
What opportunity would you explore?
Where would you speak?
What would you learn?
What would you change about the company?
What would you do outside of work?
20 HOURS BACK
What would you do with them?
Try dividing your time into two lists.
STOP SPENDING IT ON
- Meetings
- Follow-up
- Internal issues
- Project management
- Decisions others could make
Start SPENDING IT ON
- Customers
- Relationships
- Creating
- Opportunities
- Your unique strengths
The point isn’t to eliminate every operational responsibility.
It’s to recognize that every hour spent on work someone else could own is an hour you aren’t spending on work only you can do.
Do You Need a Full-Time #2 Yet?
Not every company needs a full-time COO or #2.
Sometimes the business genuinely doesn’t have enough responsibility to justify a full-time executive.
Sometimes revenue or stage doesn’t support the role.
Sometimes the responsibilities aren’t clearly defined yet.
And sometimes the company needs short-term operating help rather than a permanent executive.
A fractional leader may make sense in those situations.
But you may be ready for a full-time #2 if:
- You’re consistently performing the #2 role yourself.
- You already have functional leaders who need leadership.
- Execution depends heavily on you.
- Growth is increasing organizational complexity.
- The company needs someone who can lead leaders.
- You know the next stage requires a different leadership structure.
The question isn’t whether every growing company should hire a COO.
It is whether your company has reached the point where the leadership structure needs to change.
Don't Just Hire Someone You Trust
When founders realize they need a #2, there’s an understandable temptation to promote someone they already trust.
An EA.
A longtime employee.
A functional leader.
A friend.
A loyal team member.
There is real value in institutional knowledge and trust.
But familiarity doesn’t automatically mean someone can run the company.
A #2 needs the ability to:
- Solve complex problems
- Lead leaders
- Make decisions
- Drive accountability
- Navigate conflict
- Execute
- Adapt as the organization grows
The question isn’t:
“Who do I trust?”
It’s:
“Who has the capabilities this role actually requires?”
That distinction matters.
The person who has been beside you for ten years may be an excellent leader.
They may also be excellent in their current role and not the right person for the #2 seat.
The only way to know is to define the role first and evaluate the person against what the role requires.
You can evaluate whether a leader has the traits the role requires using objective, data-driven hiring tools such as the TIP™ Assessment.
Start With the Company You're Trying to Build
Don’t start with:
“Who can take some things off my plate?”
Start with:
“Who does the company we’re building need in the #2 seat?”
Look at the next three years.
Your expected revenue.
Your team size.
Your organizational complexity.
Your markets.
Your leadership structure.
Your growth plans.
And perhaps most importantly:
What do you want your own role to become?
Then work backward.
What does the company need from its #2?
What decisions should they own?
Which leaders should report to them?
What does accountability look like?
What capabilities will they need as the company grows?
What kind of leader can work effectively alongside you?
This changes the hiring conversation completely.
You’re no longer looking for someone to “help.”
You’re defining a leadership role around the company you intend to build.
Stop Asking How Long You Can Keep Doing Both
You’ve probably already proven that you can run the company.
That’s not the question anymore.
The question is whether continuing to run it is the best use of you.
If every decision still comes back to you, you’re driving execution, your leadership team needs you to keep things moving, and the work only you can do keeps getting pushed aside, the company may have outgrown a leadership structure built around you.
The next step isn’t necessarily posting a COO job tomorrow.
It’s getting clear about the company you’re building, what you should own, and who needs to own the rest.
Because eventually, building a company that can run without you requires answering a harder question:
What role should you be playing when you’re no longer the person running everything?
Ready to Stop Being Your Own #2?
VisionSpark helps growing companies define the leadership role they need and find the Second-in-Command capable of owning it.
See it in practice: how a #2 leader helped one company go from flying blind to focused and the business impact of finding the right #2.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know when it's time to hire a COO or #2?
You may need a #2 when the company depends too heavily on you for decisions, accountability, and execution. As complexity grows and functional leaders need stronger coordination, the Visionary can become trapped in day-to-day operations instead of focusing on strategy, relationships, growth, and the future. A capable #2 helps lead leaders, drive execution, resolve cross-functional issues, and build a company that can operate without everything coming back to you.
What's the difference between a Visionary and a #2 leader?
The Visionary is typically focused on direction, ideas, relationships, opportunities, and the future of the company.
The #2 is typically focused on execution, leadership, accountability, alignment, and making sure the company’s priorities actually move forward.
The roles should work together, not compete with each other.
The Visionary determines where the company is going.
The #2 helps make sure the organization can get there.
Does every company need a COO?
No.
Not every company needs a COO, and the #2 role doesn’t always carry the COO title.
Depending on the company’s stage, structure, and needs, the role could be a President, Integrator®, General Manager, Operating Partner, or another leadership position.
What matters is the function and the responsibilities the company needs someone to own.
Should I hire a fractional or full-time #2?
It depends on the company’s stage, workload, complexity, and long-term needs.
A fractional leader may make sense when the company needs operating expertise but doesn’t yet have enough responsibility to justify a full-time executive.
A full-time #2 may make more sense when execution is consistently dependent on the Visionary, functional leaders need leadership, organizational complexity is increasing, and the company needs someone who can own the operating system for the long term.
Can I promote someone internally into the #2 role?
Yes.
Internal promotion can work when the person has the capabilities required by the role.
But tenure and trust alone aren’t enough.
A #2 needs to be able to lead leaders, make difficult decisions, drive accountability, resolve conflict, solve complex problems, and adapt as the organization grows.
The right question is whether the person is capable of the role you’re defining, not simply whether they know the company well.
What should I look for when hiring my #2?
Start with role clarity.
Define what the person will own, what decisions they’ll make, which leaders they’ll lead, and what success looks like.
Then evaluate the leadership traits and capabilities required for that role.
Strong problem-solving ability, accountability, leadership of leaders, decision-making, adaptability, and alignment with the Visionary and company are all important considerations.
How much should I pay a COO or #2 leader?
There isn’t one universal salary that makes sense for every COO or #2 role.
Compensation depends on factors such as company stage, revenue, geography, industry, scope of responsibility, team size, and the experience required.
Instead of relying on a generic benchmark, get a salary recommendation for your leadership role based on the role you’re actually building.
