Our VP of Marketing was phenomenal when we were a ten-million-dollar business, but now that we are pushing toward forty million, they seem perpetually overwhelmed, missing key deadlines, and unable to manage their larger department. How do we objectively diagnose whether they have hit their personal growth ceiling or just need better support?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is common for a leader who excelled at ten million dollars to struggle when the business reaches forty million. To determine if they have hit their growth ceiling or simply need more resources, you must use the GWC framework from the EOS system.

Evaluate the leader on three distinct criteria. Do they Get It? Do they truly understand the complexities of their larger department and the strategic needs of a forty-million-dollar company? Do they Want It? Do they have the genuine desire and passion to lead at this scale, or are they dragging themselves to work? Do they have the Capacity? Do they possess the mental, emotional, and physical capability to manage the increased workload, systems, and people?

If they GWC the seat but are simply overwhelmed by administrative tasks, you can solve the issue by adjusting your Accountability Chart. Delegate lower-level responsibilities to middle managers, freeing them up to focus on strategic execution.

However, if the answer to any of the GWC questions is no, they have hit their ceiling. They cannot scale to the level your exit plans require. In this case, you must make a hard choice. Keeping an unqualified leader in a key seat will slow down your entire company, as cracks at the top always appear as canyons below. You must move them to a seat they successfully GWC or transition them out.