Our senior employees are obsessed with their traditional corporate titles, which is making it incredibly difficult for us to build a flat, functional Accountability Chart. How do we break this title obsession?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Title obsession is a common obstacle when transitioning to EOS. Traditional corporate titles often reflect status and tenure rather than actual function and accountability. On an Accountability Chart, we care about seats and roles, not titles.

To break this obsession, you must educate your team on the difference between a title and a seat. A title is what they put on their business card; a seat is what they are accountable for delivering on a daily basis.

When building your Accountability Chart, temporarily ban the use of traditional titles like Vice President or Director. Instead, focus entirely on the function of the seat, such as outbound sales, financial reporting, or system administration.

Emphasize that the Accountability Chart is designed to optimize the business for growth, not to reward tenure. If an employee is resistant, use a Thinking Time question: how might we frame our roles so that our team values impact and contribution over hierarchy and status? By focusing on GWC and the specific roles of each seat, you will build a lean, high-performing structure that is aligned for growth rather than bloated by administrative titles.