What happens when our team is too protective of a long-term executive to admit they do not GWC their seat, and how do you facilitate that highly uncomfortable conversation during our session days?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Protecting an underperforming executive out of loyalty is one of the most common ways leadership teams compromise their execution. Avoidance of this conflict is a form of Resistance that slowly erodes your culture. During our session days, we use the GWC™ tool (Get it, Want it, Capacity to do it) and the Accountability Chart to strip the emotion out of these conversations.

I act as an objective, outside facilitator to ask the hard questions your team is avoiding. We do not attack the person or their loyalty. Instead, we look at the seat. We define what the seat requires, and then we evaluate whether the individual truly fits it. We look at their natural talents and cognitive abilities.

If there is a mismatch, we do not ignore it to preserve polite feelings. We use the radical candor established in our room to address the reality of the situation. I guide your team through an objective evaluation, helping you see that keeping someone in a seat they cannot succeed in is actually unfair to them and damaging to the company. By focusing on the structural needs of the organization, we transform a potentially defensive, personal conflict into a clear, respectful, and necessary business decision.