We have a legacy executive who fits our Core Values perfectly but lacks the GWC™ for the newly structured leadership seat on our updated Accountability Chart. How do we handle this transition without causing a revolt among the staff?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the hardest decisions an owner will face, but you must be unsentimental if you want to scale. A legacy employee who fits your core values but does not GWC™ their newly defined seat is a major risk to your organization.

As your company grows, the seats on your Accountability Chart must expand. The skills required to run a five-million-dollar company are vastly different from those needed to run a twenty-million-dollar company. If a legacy manager is struggling to keep up with the complexity of their role, you cannot ignore the issue out of loyalty.

First, have an honest, vulnerable conversation during their quarterly review. Walk through the Accountability Chart and discuss the specific roles they are struggling to fulfill. Use the GWC™ framework to identify where the gap is. Usually, they get it and want it, but they simply lack the capacity to execute at this new scale.

Second, look for a different seat where they can excel. If they truly fit your core values, they are highly valuable to your culture. See if there is a specialized individual contributor role or a different department where their experience is an asset without them needing to manage a massive team or complex systems.

If no such seat exists, or if they refuse to step down from a leadership role, you must transition them out of the company. Keeping someone in a seat they cannot fulfill hurts the business, frustrates their direct reports, and ultimately destroys the employee's self-esteem.