Our Vice President of Operations has been with us for twelve years and helped build this company from scratch. He easily passes our core values, but he clearly no longer Wants the seat. He avoids tough conversations, delays strategic initiatives, and admits off the record that he is burned out, yet he refuses to step down because of his identity and pride. How do we address a GWC failure when someone has the capability and core values, but lacks the genuine desire to do the job?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A failure in the W of GWC is often the hardest personnel issue an owner will face, especially with a loyal veteran who carried the company through its earliest battles. The trap is confusing gratitude for their historical contribution with their current fit for the seat. When an executive no longer has the passion to drive their seat, their subconscious strategy is self-preservation. They dodge conflict, avoid strategic initiatives, and let performance drift, which poisons team standards.

You must address this directly in a private quarterly conversation, completely outside the weekly Level 10 Meeting. Start by affirming your appreciation for their tenure, but lay out the objective reality. The seat requires relentless energy, active leadership, and aggressive problem solving. Ask them candidly whether they genuinely wake up excited to do this specific work for the next three to five years, or if they are staying purely out of duty and fear of losing their identity.

Give them permission to admit they are done. Many long-tenured leaders are privately exhausted and looking for an honorable exit ramp. If they want to remain with the company, evaluate whether there is an individual contributor seat, an advisory role, or a specialized technical seat that matches their strengths without requiring people management or executive operational ownership.

If no such seat exists on your future-state Accountability Chart, help them orchestrate a graceful, dignified departure over a defined transition window. What you cannot do is leave them in the seat. Protecting their feelings at the expense of company accountability signals to your entire organization that tenure matters more than performance.