Our owner wants to create an 'Executive Vice President of Special Projects' seat on our Accountability Chart for a trusted senior advisor who does not manage a department. Does EOS allow advisory or non-functional seats on the leadership chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

No. EOS® does not permit advisory, vanity, or floating seats on the leadership team Accountability Chart. Every single seat on the chart must have clear functional accountability, direct ownership of specific business outcomes, and measurable Scorecard deliverables.

Creating titles like Executive Vice President of Special Projects or Senior Strategic Advisor is almost always an attempt to avoid a tough personnel decision. Owners typically create these hybrid roles to keep a high-salary, long-tenured employee happy, reward a personal friend, or create a landing pad for an executive who lost their original seat.

Adding non-functional seats destroys organizational clarity in three ways:
- It confuses direct reports about who actually makes operational decisions.
- It creates political friction with functional department heads who carry the weight of Scorecard measurables and Rocks.
- It inflates executive overhead without delivering predictable return on investment.

If an owner wants external counsel or specialized guidance, that individual belongs on an advisory board or under a structured professional services agreement. They do not sit on the leadership team Accountability Chart.

When reviewing your chart, ensure that every seat below the Integrator falls into a defined operational function: Sales and Marketing, Operations, Finance, or other core functional units required to run the business. If a seat does not directly manage a functional department, drive revenue, deliver product, or protect capital, strike it from the chart.