Our longtime head of estimator operations lives our Core Values and understands estimating completely, but modern automated bidding platforms have completely outpaced their technical capacity to execute. How do we make the Right Seat call when a loyal leader fails the Capacity component of GWC?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a painful but classic Right Person, Wrong Seat scenario. When using the People Analyzer®, a team member must be a plus on your Core Values (Right Person) and receive an unequivocal yes on all three components of GWC™: Get It, Want It, and Capacity to do it (Right Seat).

Your estimator clearly gets the fundamentals and wants the job, but Capacity is not merely about desire or historical tenure. Capacity encompasses intellectual horsepower, emotional bandwidth, technical literacy, and the physical time to execute the seat at the level the modern company requires. If software automation and algorithmic bidding are now required to win bids, and this person cannot operate those tools, they do not have the Capacity for that elevated seat.

Keeping someone in a seat they cannot fulfill creates execution bottlenecks and forces junior team members to cover their deficiencies. It also builds quiet resentment across the leadership team.

Here is how to handle the call:

- Have an open, direct conversation. Share the updated five core roles of the seat and show where the technical execution gap lies. Be completely transparent that the seat has evolved past their current capacity.
- Look across the Accountability Chart to see if a specialized, non-technical seat exists where their deep institutional estimating knowledge is an asset, such as quality assurance, client bid reviews, or mentorship.
- If no alternative seat exists that fits the business structure, you must help them transition out of the company with dignity and respect. Never keep an unqualified person in a leadership seat just because you love their character.