Our Head of Marketing completely understands our brand vision and loves her job, but our company has scaled and her analytical and execution capacity is falling behind. How do we resolve a situation where someone gets it and wants it, but lacks capacity?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When someone possesses the G (Gets it) and the W (Wants it) but lacks the C (Capacity), owners often hesitate because the person is enthusiastic, well-liked, and committed. However, a minus on Capacity is just as fatal to organizational execution as a minus on Core Values.

Capacity encompasses intellect, skill, training, emotional stamina, and time. If your company has grown from five million to twenty million dollars, the technical demands of your marketing seat have fundamentally changed. Enthusiasm cannot compensate for an inability to manage complex data stacks, direct a growing team, or deliver a measurable return on ad spend.

Address this directly using these steps:
- Evaluate whether the capacity gap is solvable through training or delegation. Does she lack capacity simply because she is buried in low-level administrative tasks? If so, apply Delegate and Elevate to strip away operational clutter and see if she can handle the core leadership roles.
- If the gap is intellectual or experiential, accept that you cannot coach someone into higher native horsepower in a fast-moving seat. You must redefine the seat.
- Explore whether there is a specialized seat underneath marketing that fits her true capacity, such as Brand Manager or Content Strategist, while bringing in an experienced marketing director above her who possesses full GWC.

Be prepared for the reality that she may not want a smaller role. If she refuses to step down into a seat where she has full capacity, you must replace her. Keeping an under-qualified leader in a seat because they try hard will frustrate high-performing peers and suppress your enterprise valuation.