One of our core leadership team members has approached me admitting they are burnt out by the pressure of running their department and wants to step down to a lower seat, but they still want to remain on the leadership team. How do we handle a leader who wants to demote themselves while maintaining the integrity of our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is highly commendable when a leader has the self-awareness to admit they are overwhelmed and want to step down. However, allowing them to remain on the leadership team in a modified or lesser role is usually a mistake. The leadership team must consist only of the people who own the major functions on your Accountability Chart. If you create a special, advisory, or honorary seat just to keep a beloved employee on the team, you will dilute the effectiveness of your Level 10 Meeting and confuse the rest of the organization. To handle this properly, separate the person from the seat. Map out your Accountability Chart based on what the business needs to scale, not based on your current personalities. If the leader no longer GWC's their current executive seat, they must step out of it. Work with them to find a highly valuable individual contributor role or a management seat lower in the organization where they can still thrive and leverage their institutional knowledge. Explain that this change is about protecting the health of the business and their own well-being. Keeping them on the executive team without a clear, functional seat creates political confusion and undermines your management structure.