Our Head of Marketing is a perfect core values fit and has great marketing instincts, but her department is consistently missing its lead-generation targets. She insists she Gets, Wants, and has the Capacity for the seat, claiming the failure is strictly due to a lack of ad budget and staff. How do we objectively diagnose if this is a GWC issue or a resource issue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a leader misses their numbers but blames a lack of resources, you must separate operational capacity from personal capability. This is a common point of confusion when running GWC on your leadership team.

Start by reviewing the Seat and the Scorecard. Is the lead-generation target realistic given your current market and budget? If the target is mathematically impossible with your resources, then you have a resource problem, not a people problem.

However, if the budget is reasonable and other departments are executing, look closely at the Get and Want. Does your Head of Marketing truly understand the modern, data-driven tactics required to hit these numbers? If she is relying on outdated strategies and simply asking for more budget to solve the problem, she may lack the strategic Capacity for the current seat.

Use your Level 10 Meeting to run this through IDS. Push for objective data. If she cannot present a clear, data-backed plan on how she would hit the targets with the resources available, it is likely a GWC issue. You may need a different leader for this phase of growth.