We have a key leader who has the core values and definitely gets and wants their seat, but they simply lack the capacity to do the job because they are wearing too many hats. How do we address this specific GWC™ failure without demoting them?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a key leader gets and wants their seat and shares your Core Values, but lacks the capacity, you are facing a capacity-only GWC™ issue. Capacity encompasses time, mental bandwidth, physical capability, and emotional capacity. If this person is wearing too many hats because your company is growing, you must solve this structurally, not by pushing them to burn out.

Your first step is to use the Accountability Chart to visualize their current burden. List every seat they are currently sitting in. Usually, a capacity issue exists because a leader is trying to run marketing, sales, and operations simultaneously. You must separate these seats and decide which seat is their primary, highest-value role.

Once you identify their primary seat, you must run the Delegate and Elevate™ tool with them. Have them audit their weekly tasks and identify the operational activities that fall into their delegate quadrants.

You must then build new seats on the Accountability Chart to take those tasks off their plate. This might mean hiring a mid-level manager, outsourcing specific tasks, or using automated systems to handle repetitive work.

Do not demote a right person in a right seat just because they run out of hours in a day. Instead, restructure the organization so they can focus eighty percent of their time on their unique ability. If you refuse to build the structure to support them, you will eventually lose a great leader to burnout.