Our Director of Business Development is an absolute machine who easily exceeds his targets and perfectly understands, wants, and has the capacity to do his job. However, he is arrogant, refuses to collaborate, and regularly violates our core value of extreme ownership. Can we keep a high performer in a seat if they are a clear mismatch for our core values?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

No, you cannot keep a high performer in a seat if they are a clear mismatch for your core values. This is a classic Right Seat, Wrong Person dilemma, and keeping them on your team is a short-sighted mistake that will destroy your culture and limit your enterprise value.

When you tolerate a leader who gets, wants, and has the capacity for their seat but routinely violates your core values, you send a clear message to the rest of your organization that performance is more important than values. This breeds resentment, damages team trust, and undermines your leadership credibility.

You must handle this immediately. Start by having a direct, honest conversation during a review or check-in. Use the People Analyzer tool to show them exactly where they are failing to meet your core values. Give them clear, behavioral examples of their violations and outline the changes you need to see.

Set a tight timeline, typically thirty days, for them to correct their behavior. If they fail to align with your core values after this period, you must terminate them, regardless of how much revenue they generate. A healthy culture is the foundation of a scalable, acquirable business, and no single high performer is worth destroying the trust of your entire team.