We have an executive on our leadership team who is a great culture fit, but his operational seat has been automated. To avoid letting him go, we created a new Special Projects seat on our Accountability Chart. However, his weekly activities are vague, and his presence is creating confusion among our other directors. How do we handle this unstructured seat?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A Special Projects seat on an Accountability Chart is almost always a sign of organizational avoidance. It is a dumping ground created because leadership lacks the courage to make a hard people decision. In EOS, every seat must have a clear purpose, five distinct roles, and measurable scorecard numbers. A vague seat like Special Projects violates all of these rules and dilutes the focus of the entire team.

First, you must immediately eliminate the Special Projects seat from your Accountability Chart. It is an artificial box that does not support your ideal future structure.

Second, run this executive through the GWC tool against the actual, necessary seats you have open in your organization. If there is a legitimate, vacant seat that needs to be filled, and he gets, wants, and has the capacity to do it, move him there. If no such seat exists, you must face the reality that you have a Right Person, Wrong Seat scenario. You cannot afford to carry highly paid, non-essential personnel, especially when preparing for an exit. Buyers look closely at overhead efficiency, and a vague executive seat will be flagged instantly as unnecessary bloat.

Have an honest conversation with him. Explain that the business has evolved and the Special Projects seat is being retired. If there are no other viable seats, transition him out of the company with a generous severance package. By keeping the Accountability Chart clean and lean, you maintain high standards of accountability and protect your company valuation.