Our Director of Finance was great when we had ten employees, but now that we are scaling toward fifty, they are visibly struggling, missing deadlines, and resisting new financial systems. How do I objectively determine if they can grow into the new seat or if I need to replace them?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You must run this leader through the GWC filter with absolute objectivity. GWC stands for Get It, Want It, and Have the Capacity to Do It.

Get It means they truly understand the role, the culture, the pace, and the systems required at this new level of scale. Want It means they genuinely want the responsibility of managing a larger department, budgeting for scale, and running complex financial operations. Capacity is the hardest part. It covers physical, emotional, and intellectual capability.

As a company grows, the seats on the Accountability Chart grow too. A seat at fifty employees requires vastly different skills than a seat at ten. If they are working eighty hours a week, missing deadlines, and resisting new systems, they are showing you they lack the capacity to scale with the seat.

To diagnose the root cause, look at their Kolbe profile. They might be a high Implementor or high Fact Finder who is being forced into a heavy Follow Thru or Quick Start role as you change systems. This conative strain will burn them out.

Have an honest conversation. Share the gap between their current performance and the requirements of the seat. If they cannot bridge that gap within thirty days, you must find a person who GWCs the seat, and transition your loyal leader to a role that fits their natural strengths.