Our head of sales resigned unexpectedly, and instead of hiring a replacement, my remaining leadership team members want to divide the sales seat responsibilities among themselves to save money. Why is this shared ownership a structural trap, and how do we prevent our leadership team from fracturing under the extra weight?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Splitting a vacant leadership seat among the remaining team members is a major structural trap. When everyone is responsible for a department, no one is responsible. This temporary fix always leads to dropped balls, miscommunication, and massive frustration. Your Accountability Chart must have exactly one name in every seat. If a major function like sales or operations is vacant, the Integrator must temporarily put their own name in that seat. This keeps the accountability clear and ensures the rest of the leadership team can focus on their own roles. Splitting the duties across multiple people dilutes focus and causes department heads to overstep boundaries, leading to turf wars and political silos. It also masks the true cost of the vacancy, making the business look more profitable on paper than it actually is, which hurts your operational health. Instead of dividing the seat, use your Level 10 Meeting to identify, discuss, and solve the vacancy issue. Treat the empty seat as a high-priority issue and focus your energy on finding a leader who truly GWC's the role so your business can continue to scale.