Several of our early employees hold lofty executive titles like Chief Marketing Officer or VP of Operations on our Accountability Chart, even though they have no direct reports and operate as individual contributors. Our exit advisor says this will scare off private equity buyers. How do we correct these titles on our chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

In the early days of a business, founders often hand out impressive titles in lieu of high salaries. However, as you scale and prepare for an exit, this practice creates significant organizational debt. When a buyer looks at your Accountability Chart and sees a Chief Marketing Officer who is actually just running Google Ads and writing copy, they see a company with a distorted structure and bloated future compensation liabilities.

You must separate titles from the seats on your Accountability Chart. Remember, the Accountability Chart is about structure, seats, and roles, not egos or status.

First, redesign your Accountability Chart to reflect the actual functional seats your business needs. If you need someone to manage lead generation, name the seat Marketing Manager or Marketing Specialist, not Chief Marketing Officer. Define the five key roles for that seat based on execution, not executive strategy.

Once the ideal structure is defined, map your current people to these seats using the GWC™ tool. Have a candid, one-on-one meeting with your over-titled employees. Explain that as you prepare the business for its next phase of growth and a clean exit, you must align your internal structure with industry standards.

Let them know that while their daily responsibilities and compensation remain the same, their title on the Accountability Chart is changing to match the actual seat they occupy. If they are true culture fits, they will understand that a clean, accurate chart is what the business needs to succeed. If they refuse to accept a title change due to ego, they fail the People Analyzer™ on your core values.