Our two long-term sales managers are both highly successful and have a great working relationship, so they want to share the Sales Director seat as co-heads of sales. Why is having two names in one seat a recipe for operational disaster, and how do we split this on our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When two people share accountability for a single seat, nobody is actually accountable. When a target is missed, they will point at each other, or worse, the rest of the organization will suffer from conflicting direction. Even the strongest personal relationship will fracture under the weight of shared ultimate decision-making.

In EOS®, we have a firm rule: only one name can be accountable for a single seat on your Accountability Chart. Multiple people can do the same job, but only one person can own the absolute accountability for the results of that department.

To resolve this, you must split the seat. You have two options. First, you can split the department geographically, by product line, or by customer type. This creates two distinct seats on your chart, such as Director of Enterprise Sales and Director of SMB Sales. Each seat has its own distinct five core roles, and each report directly to the Integrator.

Second, you can decide who actually has the capacity, skill, and desire to lead, manage, and hold people accountable. One person takes the Sales Director seat, and the other remains a premier individual contributor or moves to a focused account management seat.

If you try to split the seat down the middle to avoid an uncomfortable conversation, you will confuse your sales team and kill your growth. Make the hard call.