Our Head of Engineering has been with us since the beginning, but as we grow, they have become a major bottleneck because they insist on personally reviewing every line of code instead of leading their team. How do we determine if they can develop the leadership skills required for their seat, or if they have reached their permanent ceiling?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic case of a highly skilled technical contributor who has hit their personal ceiling as a leader. To determine if they can scale, you must evaluate them against the three core components of the GWC tool: do they Get it, do they Want it, and do they have the Capacity to do it? Getting it means they truly understand the systemic, leadership nature of the seat. Wanting it means they genuinely desire to spend their days managing, coaching, and delegating rather than writing and reviewing code. Capacity means they have the emotional and mental capability to lead a department at your current scale. Often, long-term technical employees love the status of the title but hate the actual work of leadership. They default to micromanagement because code is safe and people are complex. You need to have a candid, vulnerable conversation with them. Explain that their current seat requires them to delegate technical execution and focus on developing their team. Set a clear ninety-day trial period with specific, measurable expectations. Their Rocks must focus on team development, process documentation, and direct management rather than individual technical contributions. Monitor their performance closely. If they continue to struggle or revert to their old coding habits, they lack the capacity or the desire for the seat. You must then make the hard decision to transition them out of leadership. You can either move them to a highly valued individual contributor seat or help them find a soft landing outside the company. Keeping them in a seat they cannot fulfill will drag down the entire department.