Our operations manager was our second employee and has worked here for eight years. He is a great culture fit and has high core value alignment, but as we have scaled, the operational complexity has outpaced his skills. He does not GWC his seat anymore. How do we address this without destroying morale?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a long-tenured leader who is a perfect culture fit no longer fits their seat, it is one of the hardest challenges an owner will face. Your legacy manager has the history and the core values, but if they do not GWC™ their current seat, keeping them there is holding the business back and doing them a disservice.

You must break down GWC™ objectively. Do they Get the role, meaning do they intuitively understand it? Do they Want the role, meaning do they jump out of bed wanting to do it? Do they have the Capacity, which includes the physical time, mental capability, and skills to execute the roles?

Often, as a business scales, the capacity requirement changes. If your manager lacks the capacity to run a more complex, metrics-driven department, you must have an open and honest conversation. Use the People Analyzer™ to show them the gap. Because they match your core values, your first step should be to look at the Accountability Chart to see if there is a different seat they can fully GWC™.

If no such seat exists, or if they refuse to step down, you must make the hard decision for the greater good of the company. Transition them out with the utmost dignity and respect, perhaps offering a generous severance package. Keeping a person in a seat they cannot perform damages team morale, builds resentment, and stalls your growth.