My head of customer success fits our core values perfectly and has the capacity, but they have recently admitted they no longer Want the seat because of chronic burnout. I cannot afford to lose their institutional knowledge. How do we address this GWC misalignment?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a highly valued leader who fits your core values perfectly admits they no longer Want their seat due to chronic burnout, you must act quickly. It is tempting to try to motivate them or offer temporary time off, but if the Want is truly gone, their operational capacity will inevitably decline, hurting both the leader and the business.

To resolve this GWC™ misalignment, you must separate the person from the seat. Sit down with them and use the Accountability Chart as your guide. Have an open, direct conversation about their burnout and validate their feelings.

Explore whether their burnout is caused by the administrative burdens of management or if they simply want to return to their roots as an individual contributor. If they still align with your core values, look for opportunities to redesign the Accountability Chart.

You may be able to transition them to a highly focused specialist role where they can utilize their deep institutional knowledge without the stress of managing a team. This preserves their value to the company, respects their boundaries, and allows you to bring in a fresh leader who fully GWCs the executive seat.