Our co-founding CTO has been with us since the beginning and understands our technology inside out. However, as we scale toward an exit, the seat now requires managing a massive, global engineering team and implementing strict data compliance, which he is struggling to do. How do we run a GWC™ check on this long-tenured leader without alienating him?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A long-tenured leader who lacks the capacity to scale is one of the hardest challenges an owner faces. To resolve this, you must separate the person from the seat and use the GWC™ tool objectively.

Start by looking at the Accountability Chart, not the person. Define the exact roles and responsibilities this seat requires to support a successful exit. As your company scales, the capacity required for the CTO seat changes from hands-on coding to executive leadership, risk management, and systems architecture.

Once the seat is defined, ask three questions. Does he get it? Does he want it? Does he have the capacity to do it? In this scenario, he likely gets and wants the technical side, but lacks the mental or emotional capacity to manage a global team and strict compliance.

Be honest about this gap. Keeping a leader in a seat they cannot fulfill is unfair to them and dangerous for your business valuation. You must have a candid conversation. Let him know that the business has outgrown the current structure of the seat.

Because he is deeply loyal and possesses invaluable tribal knowledge, look for a new seat on the Accountability Chart that fits his true capacity, such as a Chief Architect seat that focuses purely on product design without the management burden. This preserves his dignity while protecting the business.