Welcome to The COO Solution Podcast, the go-to resource for business owners, CEOs, and visionary entrepreneurs looking to scale smarter, lead better, and build businesses that run without bottlenecks. I’m your host, Derek Fredrickson, and today’s episode tackles one of the biggest game-changers in business leadership: knowing the difference between the visionary and the operator—and owning your zone of genius.
In This Episode:
- [00:58] Why You Can’t Be Both – The common mistake visionary entrepreneurs make when they try to manage everything themselves.
- [01:47] Visionary vs. Operator, Defined – A breakdown of the strengths, roles, and responsibilities of each—and why trying to be both stalls your growth.
- [04:37] Why Most Visionaries Struggle Without an Operator – From bottlenecks to burnout, staying in the weeds drains your energy and slows your scale.
- [07:57] What Changes When You Fully Embrace Your Role – How stepping into your visionary power unlocks freedom, revenue, momentum, and team alignment.
- [10:36] Action Challenge – A step-by-step exercise to help you clarify your role and delegate like a pro.
Why This Matters
If your business still depends on you to function, it’s not a business; it’s a job. And the longer you play visionary and operator, the more you stay stuck in survival mode. This episode clarifies your role as a leader and gives you the permission and framework to focus on what you do best.
Action Steps for Listeners:
- List 10–15 tasks you’ve done in the last 3 days.’
- Circle what only you, the visionary, can do.
- Underline what an operator (or team member) could take over.
- Stay focused on what’s in the circle. That’s your lane. That’s your edge.
Resources & Links:
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Transcript:
Hi, I’m Derek Fredrickson. Welcome to the COO Solution podcast, the show for business owners and visionary leaders who want to scale with clarity, confidence, and the right support. For over 16 years, I’ve been in the trenches as a fractional COO Chief Operating Officer, helping entrepreneurs align their teams, streamline operations, and remove bottlenecks that slow growth. I understand the challenges. Feeling overwhelmed, stretch too thin, or uncertain about how to scale without burning out. I’ve helped business owners move from chaos to clarity, creating businesses that run smoothly and grow and scale. Each week I’ll bring you real world insights, proven strategies, and practical solutions to help you step into your highest role as a leader. Whether it’s optimizing your team, strengthening accountability, or building the right systems for growth, this podcast is here to support you in Scaling Smart.
So if you’re ready to create a business that thrives without requiring more of you, let’s get started.
Let me ask you a question. Are you trying to be both the visionary and the operator in your business? Because if you are, I get it. That was me, too. You have the big ideas, but you’re also managing projects, putting out fires, checking in with your team, and trying to keep everything moving. But here’s the thing. Just because you can do it all doesn’t mean you should do it all.
And welcome to the COO Solution podcast. I’m your host, Derek Fredrickson, and today we’re exploring one of the most important shifts a CEO business owner entrepreneur can make, which is understanding the difference between being the visionary and being the operator in your business. And why embracing your role as the visionary and not the operator is the key to scaling your business with ease.
This is something I talk about all the time with our clients. At the COO Solution, one of the biggest things holding back growth isn’t lack of strategy, isn’t lack of ideas, it’s lack of clarity. About your role. Visionaries are the idea generators. They’re the future thinkers. They’re the big picture. They cast the vision, create new offers, build relationships, and dream big. Big. And I mean dream really big.
Operators are the integrators, the ones who make the vision happen. They build the systems, manage the teams, and handle the day to day so the business actually runs. Here’s the mistake. Trying to be both. When you’re stuck in the operator seat, it’s nearly impossible to focus on your highest value as a visionary. When you don’t have a strong second in command or chief operating officer, you unfortunately become the bottleneck. You’re not dreaming. You’re firefighting.
Let’s break this down and define these two roles. Because once you understand the difference, it’s like flipping on a light switch in your business. Number one, what it means to be a visionary. You’re the one who sees the big picture before anyone else does. You dream up, you the next offer you think 6-12 months out or maybe even more. You’re constantly spotting patterns, gaps and opportunities. You’re relationship driven. You focus on sales, partnership, visibility. These are your zones of genius. This is what lights you up, what gives you excitement, which gives you optimism. It’s what gets you out of bed in the morning. Visionaries thrive on momentum, energy, emotion, creativity. You are the spark. You see what’s possible before it exists. But here’s the problem.
You’re also likely the one who’s currently managing team members, overseeing projects, approving every task, reviewing all the deliverables, making sure deadlines are hit. You’ve become both the gas pedal and the brake.
Now, number two, what does it mean to be an operator? Well. Well, an operator, they bring the vision to life. They build the machine and keep it running. They take your big picture idea and turn it into a plan. They assign tasks, manage deadlines, build systems and ensure real accountability. They think in terms of execution, performance, metrics and results. And the best operators don’t just get things done. They create an environment where things run without your constant oversight. They ask who’s doing this? What’s the deadline? Where’s the sop? What’s the process? What are we measuring here? They don’t need to come up with the next big idea.
They want to implement the one you just had. While you’re already off brainstorming the next three, in essence, the operator focuses not just on what needs to be done, but how it needs to be done. Your job as the visionary is to make it up. The role of the operator is to make it real. And with the right processes and the right people, we make it recur. Number three, why most visionaries struggle without an operator. You’re wearing both hats. It’s as simple as that. You’re exhausted, overwhelmed, and not operating at your best. At the end of the day, you’re probably feeling a little bit drained, right? Because when you’re wired as a visionary, but you’re operating as an operator, it’s energetically taking your time, focus and attention away from the things that really do light you up.
Common symptoms might be you keep hitting growth ceiling, right? You’re right at the cusp of the next big level, but you can’t break through. Or perhaps your team looks to you for everything, right? You have a team and you’ve delegated to some extent, but they still come to you for direction or clarity or answers. Or maybe you’re not launching the next big product or offering or program. Or maybe you’re not, you know, feeling aligned to really show up in your marketing and to amplify your message. Or maybe not following through on strategic goals, right? You have these ideas, but it’s really hard to get them to the finish line. Visionaries are great at starting things, but maybe not necessarily wired to finish things. And most of that is because you’re too buried in the day to day. Here’s the truth.
If your business depends on you to function, it’s not a business. It’s unfortunately a job that you built for yourself. And there’s nothing wrong with that, right? There’s no judgment here. Because when you stay in both roles, nothing feels efficient. You start to second guess your decisions and you can’t take time off, right? You might be working nights and weekends, checking in on the team and checking in to make sure things got done and answering questions at all hours of the day. So as a result, growth and especially scaling your business often feels hard and slow. You want the results and you want them yesterday, but it feels like you’re just not getting there. And here’s the real kicker, right? The real truth. You might be holding back a team that’s ready to lead. If only they had structure, accountability and clear ownership.
If they felt more empowered and more aligned and more responsible and accountable for the things that they could do and do really well. They would rather not lean on you for all of those answers and clarification and direction. But sometimes we need to trust and rely on the team with the right structure, accountability and real ownership. So that’s number three, why most visionaries struggle without an operator.
And lastly, number four, what changes when you embrace your visionary role, Right? So now you know, what are the characteristics of a visionary? What are the characteristics of an operator? What is the fundamental differences between the two and why most visionaries struggle without an operator? So let’s talk about number four. What changes, what shifts happen in your business when you embrace your visionary role, and I mean fully embrace your visionary role.
You focus on strategy, visibility, connection and culture. And your operator focuses on systems, team execution, project management and structure. And I’m going to say that again, and I would love for you to take a moment, if you’re a visionary, to tap into how you feel Energetically, when I share these characteristics of what a visionary should and could be, focusing on strategy, visibility, connection and culture. Now take a moment to align how you feel energetically, when I share these characteristics of an operator, systems, team execution, project management and structure. Now, I know how you’re feeling because I’ve been doing this with visionaries and operators for well over 15 years. And if you’re a visionary, it’s pretty safe to say that your energy and your feelings are at a higher vibration and more aligned with your enthusiasm and excitement.
When I shared strategy, visibility, connection and culture, and if we’re being honest with each other, I’m assuming that perhaps your energy and feelings felt a little bit different or perhaps lower when I shared the characteristics of an operator, systems, team execution, project management and structure. And that’s totally fine. Again, visionaries and operators are wired in different ways. We have different strengths and different zones of genius. And so you’re aligned to be more optimistic and positive when you’re focused on strategy, visibility, connection and culture. And when you know that, you realize that you need an operator to focus on systems, team execution, project management and structure. And that’s not you. It gives you freedom, it gives you confidence, it gives you control in your business.
This shift, when you embrace your true visionary role, it unlocks more clarity for your team, better decisions across the business, more revenue from focused execution, less stress and second guessing and the freedom to actually lead. That’s why I built the COO solution. Because most visionaries know they’re not meant to do it all. They don’t know how to let go and who to trust. So the answer is simple. You need an operator, a second in command, a chief operating officer, an integrator, perhaps a really strong and experienced strategic online business manager, someone to run the business alongside you so you can do what you were always meant to do. I often say that COOs and what we offer here at the COO Solution, we run your business with you, or in some cases, we run your business for you.
And that’s not about taking control of your business. It’s actually quite the opposite. In that arrangement, we give you control back for your business and your role in the business. So here’s your challenge for today. I would like you to write down everything you’ve done in the last, I don’t know, two to three days, right? 48 to 72 hours doesn’t have to be every little thing that you’ve done, but identify maybe like 10 to 15 things that you’ve done. It could be you had a client call, perhaps you did some marketing you had to follow up on email, maybe you know, had a network meeting, whatever it might be. I would love for you to circle the tasks that only you as the visionary could do. Okay? Those would be inherently clear based on our description above.
Then underline everything that an operator can handle. And that does not mean that the operator would necessarily be the one to do all of those tasks. Perhaps the operator is the one that’s responsible to finding the right person to do those tasks right? Oftentimes the second in command is not the person that does everything in the business, but they are the ones to ensure that everything gets done right. So again, circle the task that only you as the visionary could do and then underline everything that an operator or another team member could handle. And so your job is to stay focused on what’s in the circle. That’s your zone of genius. That’s what lights you up as a visionary. And if you want to grow, you need support and clarity about your role is Step one.
So thanks for listening to this episode of the COO Solution podcast. If this resonated with you, I would love for you to subscribe so you don’t miss what’s coming next. I have lots of great ideas and strategies in future episodes to come. And if you know another founder, CEO, visionary, business owner, entrepreneur who needs this clarity, feel free to send them this episode. And perhaps you’re feeling curious. If your business is ready for the game changing support of a fractional COO or Chief Operating Officer, you could take the free [email protected] you’ll get a personalized report on your biggest scaling gap and how to fix it. Thanks for tuning in today and I’ll see you next time on the COO Solution podcast. Remember, stay in your lane and lead with vision.
And that’s a wrap on this episode of the COO Solution podcast. If you found today’s conversation valuable, I’d love it if you could subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who’s ready to get control of their business and scale it with a second in command that they trust to handle all the daily tasks and operations they don’t enjoy. And hey, maybe you’re wondering if now is the time to bring on a trusted fractional COO or Chief Operating officer to help your thriving business scale with clarity and confidence. If you’re tired of doing it alone, visit thecoosolution.com and take our free quiz to help determine if now is the right time to bring a fractional COO to help you scale in just 25 questions. You’ll get a perfect personalized report that helps you decide if your business is ready for the game changing support of a part time fractional coo. Let’s find out together if it’s your next step.
Thanks for tuning in and until next time, let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.
