Our marketing director is a great cultural fit and gets things done, but as we scale toward our exit target, they are struggling to shift from hands-on execution to high-level strategic planning. How do we objectively determine if they can scale with us or if we need to replace them on the leadership team?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To evaluate a leader who seems to have hit their ceiling, you must remove emotion and use the EOS® tools. Start with the Accountability Chart and the GWC™ tool. Ask yourself three questions. Do they truly get their seat? Do they want their seat? Do they have the capacity to do their seat at our next level of scale?

Capacity is usually the sticking point when a company scales toward an exit. Capacity is not just about having enough hours in the day. It is about intellectual, emotional, and physical capacity. It means being able to lead, manage, and hold people accountable, as well as thinking strategically rather than just executing tasks.

Have a direct, open conversation with this leader. Share your observations without judgment. Use your core values to ground the conversation. Give them a clear, time-bound runway of thirty to sixty days to demonstrate they can own the strategic aspects of their seat. This might include creating a department budget, defining a hiring plan, or automating manual workflows to free up their time.

If they cannot make this shift, they lack the capacity for the seat at your new scale. Keeping them in a seat they cannot handle is unfair to them and blocks your business growth. You must find a different seat for them where they can succeed, or help them transition out of the business entirely.