Our team is struggling to separate their current job titles from the Accountability Chart seats. How do we break the habit of building the structure around our people?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The biggest hurdle in creating a functional Accountability Chart is the tendency of leadership teams to build the structure around their existing people rather than building the ideal structure for the business. An organization chart is simply a map of titles and reporting lines, often designed to appease egos. In contrast, the Accountability Chart focuses entirely on functions and the critical roles needed to run the business. To break the habit of designing around people, you must first mentally empty all the seats in your company. Imagine you are starting with a blank canvas. Define the major functions required to run your business today and at your next level of growth. For most companies, this starts with the visionary, integrator, sales and marketing, operations, and finance. For each seat, list the five major roles and responsibilities. Only after the structure is completely defined do you begin placing names into the seats. When you do this, you must ruthlessly apply the GWC™ filter. Does the person truly get the seat, want the seat, and have the capacity to do the job? If you find a seat where the current person does not fit, you must have the courage to address that gap rather than altering the seat to accommodate their limitations.