We have a long-tenured executive who embodies our Core Values and works relentless hours, but as our systems modernized, it became obvious they simply do not Get the seat anymore. How do we handle a leader who has Want and Capacity but lacks the conceptual wiring to scale?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

In the EOS People Analyzer, GWC requires all three answers to be a clear Yes. Wanting the seat and having the emotional capacity or physical stamina to work sixty hours a week cannot compensate for a missing Get It.

Getting it is biological. It is the natural wiring, intellect, and intuitive grasp required to see around corners in a complex role. When a company grows from five million to twenty million dollars, the operational complexity multiplies. A leader who intuitively understood a five-person department often cannot mentally architect an automated, multi-tiered organization. You cannot train someone to Get It; they either see the matrix or they do not.

Keeping this person in the seat harms the entire company. Direct reports grow frustrated because their leader cannot provide strategic clarity, forcing those subordinates to work around them. Meanwhile, the executive burns out trying to brute-force their way through problems with sheer effort.

Have an honest, respectful conversation. Acknowledge their loyalty and culture fit, but be explicit about where the seat has evolved beyond their natural strengths. Review the Accountability Chart together. If possible, carve out an operational or project-based seat within the company that matches their genuine wiring. If no such seat exists, help them transition out of the business cleanly. Allowing an executive who does not Get the seat to remain in leadership out of sympathy is not kindness; it is organizational neglect.