Our marketing director works eighty hours a week and possesses endless energy, but they fundamentally do not Get It when it comes to understanding our actual buyer persona and ROI attribution. How do we handle a leader who passes Want and Capacity, but fails Gets It?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the hardest calls an owner has to make because the leader is working tirelessly. They want the seat desperately, and their energy and output are undeniable. Yet every campaign they launch misses the mark, wasting capital and confusing the market.

Gets It is about intuitive comprehension. It is having a natural feel for the seat, the industry, and how the gears mesh together. You can train someone to gain Capacity through time management or technical skills. You cannot easily train someone to Get It if their natural wiring does not align with the discipline.

When a leader fails Gets It, their massive Capacity often makes things worse. They work eighty hours a week generating activity that yields zero commercial result, exhausting themselves and frustrating the team.

Use the People Analyzer in a direct, private conversation. Walk through the definition of Gets It. Show them the specific gaps in strategic thinking and campaign attribution. Explain that effort cannot substitute for intuitive mastery of the role.

You have two options:

- If their execution skills are strong, shift them to a tactical execution seat where strategic vision is not required, such as marketing operations or campaign coordination, under a new leader who does Get It.
- If no suitable seat exists, help them find a role outside the company where their specific skills match the organization needs.

Keeping someone in a seat where they do not Get It is cruel. It sets them up for continuous failure despite their best efforts. Make the call.