Our top account manager has immense energy, works 50 hours a week, and desperately wants to lead our client success department, but she fundamentally does not get how to architect client retention strategies. How do we handle an employee who has Want and Capacity, but lacks the Get in GWC?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

In the EOS framework, GWC is strictly binary. To be in the Right Seat, an employee must have all three: they must Get it, Want it, and have the Capacity to do it. You cannot average a two out of three into a passing grade.

Capacity can often be trained through structured courses, mentors, and operational playbooks. But Get it is about natural wiring. To Get a leadership seat, someone must instinctively understand the cadence of the role, see around corners, understand how decisions impact gross margins, and navigate complex client dynamics without someone holding their hand.

When someone has Want and Capacity without Get, they are usually driven by ego, compensation, or sheer ambition. If you put them in the seat, they will grind sixty hours a week, micromanage their subordinates, fail to anticipate systemic churn, and eventually burn themselves out because their work does not produce results.

You must have an open, compassionate conversation using the People Analyzer. Explain that while their drive and capacity are exemplary, the strategic architecture role does not play to their natural strengths. Relieve them of the leadership seat before they fail publicly. Transition them into an elite individual contributor role, such as Principal Account Director, where their work ethic directly drives revenue without forcing them into a strategic seat they do not naturally understand.