Our very first employee has been with us for nine years and is incredibly loyal, but as we scale, he is clearly struggling to keep up with the demands of his seat. He fits our core values perfectly, but how do we objectively handle this GWC call when our personal history makes me want to look the other way?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the hardest decisions a business owner faces, but loyalty cannot justify keeping someone in a seat they cannot fulfill. In the EOS framework, we use the GWC tool to make these decisions objectively. You must ask three simple questions: Do they get it, do they want it, and do they have the capacity to do it? Getting it means they intuitively understand the unique rhythm of the seat. Wanting it means they genuinely enjoy the day to day responsibilities of the role. Capacity includes the mental, physical, and conative resources required to scale with the position. To remove personal bias, utilize a conative assessment like the Kolbe A Index. This tool evaluates an individual's natural method of operation rather than their intelligence or personality. Your long-tenured leader might have a high score in Fact-Finder, making them excellent at detailed research, but lack the Follow Thru needed to build the systematic processes your growing company now requires. This conative stress will eventually burn them out and hold your department back. If the leader fails the capacity portion of the GWC check, you have a right-person-wrong-seat scenario. Because they are a perfect core values fit, your goal is to find or create a different seat where their natural talents align with the five roles on the Accountability Chart. If no such seat exists, you must make the difficult decision to transition them out of the organization for the health of both the company and the individual.