Our Operations seat has grown so large that the current seat holder is dropping critical balls, but they insist they can still do it all and refuse to let us split the seat. How do we use the Accountability Chart and GWC to objectively prove the seat needs to be divided?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a leadership team member is defensive about splitting their seat, it is usually because they equate a smaller seat with a loss of status or power. However, as a business scales toward an exit, seats naturally become too large for one person to manage. You must help your operations leader see that splitting the seat is not a demotion, but a necessity to protect the organization and prevent burnout.

To handle this objectively, focus on the structure first, people second. Sit down with your operations leader and review the five major roles currently listed under the Operations seat on your Accountability Chart. Ask them to track their time for two weeks, categorizing every task under one of those five roles.

Next, look at the results. Review your weekly scorecard and quarterly Rocks. If critical metrics are off track and operational balls are being dropped, the data shows that the seat lacks the necessary capacity. Use the GWC™ tool to have a constructive, unsentimental conversation about capacity. Explain that while they have the get it and want it for the entire role, no single human has the physical time or mental capacity to execute all these responsibilities at our current scale.

Use this data to design a split structure on the Accountability Chart. For example, you can split Operations into a Service Delivery seat and a Technical Operations seat. Let your leader choose the seat that best matches their strengths and where they truly GWC™ the role, and hire a new leader for the other seat.