Our top enterprise business development director generates forty percent of our new revenue and has total GWC for his seat, but he repeatedly violates our core values by treating support staff disrespectfully and hiding client communication. Can we keep someone on our Accountability Chart who is a complete seat fit but a core values failure?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

No. You cannot keep a core values violator in any seat on your Accountability Chart, regardless of how much revenue they generate. In EOS, having the Right Person in the Right Seat requires both elements simultaneously. Right Person means they share your Core Values. Right Seat means they Get it, Want it, and have the Capacity to do the work.

A high producer who violates your core values is the classic brilliant jerk. When you tolerate this behavior because of sales numbers, you tell every other employee that your core values are nothing more than decorative wall art. You destroy internal culture, drive out your best frontline support talent, and create massive organizational fragility around a single toxic producer.

Use the People Analyzer to confront the behavior directly. Sit down with the director and review concrete examples where their actions fell below your core values bar. Be unequivocal: high sales performance does not purchase immunity from cultural expectations. The standards are non-negotiable.

Give them a clear, thirty-day deadline to correct their behavior. If they genuinely Get, Want, and have the Capacity for the business, they will recognize the damage they are causing and adjust how they treat colleagues.

If they push back, justify their arrogance by pointing to their closed deals, or revert to old habits after two weeks, you must terminate their employment. Yes, your revenue may experience a short-term hit, but keeping them will cost you far more in turnover, client churn, and leadership credibility. Remove the person, protect your culture, and recruit someone who delivers revenue while living your values.