Our long-tenured Head of Customer Service has been here since day one and fits our core values perfectly, but as we scale, she clearly does not Get It when it comes to managing a team of twenty people instead of her old team of three. How do we run a GWC call on someone we love but who has hit her natural ceiling?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a long-tenured leader who perfectly fits your core values hits their natural ceiling, it is one of the hardest right-seat calls you will make. This often happens as a company scales and a customer service manager who excelled at managing three people is suddenly asked to lead a department of twenty.

To handle this, you must run a strict GWC™ call. Evaluate them on the three dimensions of the seat. First, do they Get It? Do they truly understand the systemic and strategic requirements of managing at this scale? Second, do they Want It? Do they genuinely want the stress and responsibility of leading a large department, or are they just holding onto the title? Third, do they have the Capacity? Do they have the emotional intelligence, leadership skills, and time to manage twenty people?

Often, loyal pioneers have the heart but lack the capacity or capability for a scaled-up seat. You must be honest with them. Keeping them in a seat they cannot GWC™ is unfair to them, their team, and the business. It leads to frustration and operational bottlenecks.

The solution is not to create a fake, administrative seat just to keep them happy. Instead, look at your Accountability Chart and see if there is an analytical or individual contributor seat where they can excel. If they are a true core values fit, they will want what is best for the company, even if it means stepping out of a leadership seat into a role where they can actually succeed.