Our original Customer Service Manager has great core values, but she rejects our new digital helpdesk platform and insists on personal phone calls for everything. How do we address this GWC conflict without losing her historical knowledge?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic GWC™ issue, where a long-tenured leader possesses the G (Gets it) and the W (Wants it) for the previous version of their seat, but lacks the C (Capacity) for the updated role. When your business evolves, the seats on your [Accountability Chart](/qa/how-can-ai-optimize-the-accountability-chart-for-eos-organizations-undergoing-exit-planning) must evolve too. You cannot freeze your organization in time to accommodate one person.

Addressing the GWC Conflict

Begin with an honest, one-on-one conversation outside of your [Level 10 Meeting™](/qa/should-integrator-facilitate-level-10-meetings).

• Explain that the Customer Service seat now requires mastering the digital platform to maintain your scaling standards.
• Ask her directly if she is willing and able to adapt.

If she does not have the Capacity to manage the digital tools, you must remove her from that seat.

Preserving Historical Knowledge

To preserve her deep historical knowledge, look at your Accountability Chart to see if there is another seat where her strengths fit.

• For example, she might excel in a specialized client onboarding or key account management seat that prioritizes deep relationships over high-volume ticket management. This could be a [specialist seat for a legacy leader](/qa/restructuring-seat-for-legacy-leader-hitting-ceiling) who has reached their management ceiling.
• If a matching seat exists, and she fits your Core Values, make the move. Consider how her conative profile might align with a new role, such as [restructuring a seat for a low Follow-Thru leader](/qa/head-customer-success-low-follow-thru-kolbe).

If no such seat exists, or if she refuses to step out of her current role, you must make the hard decision to transition her out of the company. Keeping a person in a seat they cannot fully execute holds the entire company back. This is similar to a situation where a [loyal leader lacks strategic capability](/qa/loyalty-versus-capability-leadership-team) but needs to be transitioned out of an executive role.

Related questions

• [How do we design a specialist seat on our Accountability Chart for a legacy leader who has hit their management ceiling, so we retain their expertise without stalling our growth?](/qa/restructuring-seat-for-legacy-leader-hitting-ceiling)
• [Our Head of Customer Success is a great culture fit and passes the gets it and wants it tests, but her Kolbe score shows she has a very low Follow Thru and high Quick Start. She keeps starting new client retention initiatives but never completes them. Is this a GWC capacity issue, or can we solve this by restructuring her seat?](/qa/head-customer-success-low-follow-thru-kolbe)
• [Our long-tenured VP of Finance is a perfect core values fit and gets and wants their seat, but they lack the capacity to build the complex forward-looking financial forecasting models that prospective buyers are demanding for our exit. How do we handle this GWC issue without firing a loyal leader?](/qa/gwc-vp-finance-exit-capacity-issue)
• [Our head of operations is working seventy hours a week and is completely buried in tactical fires, which is stalling our scaling plans. They are a great culture fit and have high GWC for the old business, but they cannot seem to elevate to a strategic leadership role. How do we transition them out of the executive seat without losing them?](/qa/leader-cannot-scale-transition)