Our exit planning requires us to consolidate our warehouse operations, which means some of our current managers will no longer have seats on the leadership team. How do we design an objective Accountability Chart for the future of the business when our managers know their current seats might be eliminated?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To design an effective Accountability Chart, you must detach the structure of the business from the people currently working in it. This means you must build the ideal future structure first, focusing entirely on what the business needs to hit its long-term goals and maximize exit value. During this design phase, you must temporarily take all names off the chart. If you design the structure around your current people and their feelings, you will end up with a compromised, inefficient organization that buyers will immediately discount. Once you have finalized the ideal structure for your consolidated operations, you then apply the People Analyzer and the GWC™ tool to place the right people in the right seats. If some of your current managers do not fit into the new leadership structure, you must address those people issues directly and honestly. Some may fit better in specialized individual contributor seats, while others may need to be transitioned out of the business entirely. Trying to protect everyone's title or status will only lead to operational bottlenecks and confusion. Your leadership team must understand that building an exit-ready company requires making hard, objective structural decisions. By separating the structure from the people during the design process, you ensure that your business has the optimal framework to scale and succeed.