Our Director of Operations has been here for twelve years and is the ultimate culture fit, but as we scale and integrate AI automation into our workflows, she clearly does not Get, Want, or have the Capacity (GWC) to manage a tech-enabled, highly structured team. How do we make this agonizing right-seat call when her history and loyalty are beyond reproach?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is the hardest call an owner has to make, but loyalty cannot buy a pass on performance. As your company scales and adopts AI-powered operations, the seats on your Accountability Chart must evolve. If a long-tenured leader does not Get, Want, or have the Capacity (GWC™) for their updated seat, keeping them there is an act of fear, not kindness.

Break down the three GWC™ filters objectively. Does she truly understand the new tech-enabled operational model (Get It)? Does she wake up excited to lead a structured, systemized department (Want It)? Does she have the mental, emotional, and physical capacity to execute the roles of this new seat (Capacity)?

If she fails any of these three, she is in the wrong seat. You have two choices. You can see if there is another seat on the Accountability Chart where she is a perfect GWC™ fit, perhaps transitioning from a leadership seat back to a highly valued individual contributor role. Or, if no such seat exists or she refuses the transition, you must lovingly help her exit the organization.

Keeping a legacy leader in a seat they cannot handle hurts the rest of the team and halts your company's growth. It also sets a double standard that destroys your culture of accountability. Deal with this issue directly and honestly.