Is a Second the same as an Integrator?

Before we go into the roles and responsibilities of a Second and how Seconds can help you and your business. Let's start with defining what is a Second so it can help us clear the confusion with other terms that are out there.

Let's start first with the term Integrator which was introduced by Gino Wickman in the book Traction. 

An Integrator is a job or role within the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System). It is the role that keeps an organization on track and in alignment with its core purpose (The Integrator: A Breakdown of the Role by Kelly Knight). The people in this role hold almost everything together, from people, processes, and systems to strategies. They primarily work with the leadership team, especially in larger organizations, and collaborate with different departments in smaller organizations.

Out of all the people they work with, it is the organization's Visionary that they have the closest relationship to because the Visionary functions as the machine that generates most of the ideas and the Integrator mobilizes those ideas to move forward to the organization's goals.

Integrators are accountable for the company's operating system or how the business functions. They execute the business plan, harness the Visionary's ideas, gather the team together and keep them on the same page and the overall project manager - making sure their properly managed - on a day-to-day basis.

In simple terms, the term Integrator is a job or role that can exist in small or large organizations that mainly works with the leadership team, especially with the Visionary.

Are they the same with a Second?

Close.

But not that close.

A Second is more than a role. In my case, it is an identity that I proudly have embraced and identified with. Why? Because of how Nathan Young and David Hartman defined it has been something I have been looking for - the usual personality tests aren’t able to answer. 

A Second can be an Integrator but an Integrator doesn't need to be always a Second. A Second can thrive in a lot of roles and the next series of “What is a Second?” you will learn more about how we define this identity heavily referencing How to Be Second by Nathan Young and David Hartman (their LinkedIn profiles are available just at the end of this post). I love this book so much that when I read it, it has given me more clarity about myself than all the other books I have read. 

I am also on this journey with you as I discover more about what and how being a Second is. Out of all the personalities defined in my Psychology class both in my Bachelor’s and Masters’, I have never been more embracing of this.

You can also gain a lot more insight by following the authors of How to Be Second in LinkedIn:

• Nathan Young - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-s-young
• David Hartman - https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hartman-ph-d

And if you would also like to look into my experience or some other information, you can connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyren-mearr-cabellon/.

I will see you in our next blog post 👋🏻