Our head of operations is working seventy hours a week and is completely buried in tactical fires, which is stalling our scaling plans. They are a great culture fit and have high GWC for the old business, but they cannot seem to elevate to a strategic leadership role. How do we transition them out of the executive seat without losing them?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a legacy leader is working seventy hours a week and drowning in tactical fires, it is a clear sign they have hit their personal ceiling. They lack the capacity to elevate from execution to leadership. This is a common bottleneck in growing businesses, but keeping them in this seat is unfair to both the individual and the organization.

You must handle this with absolute clarity and respect. Start by using the GWC tool. Does this person truly Want the pressure of a strategic leadership seat, or are they just trying to survive? Often, they are relieved to step back into an individual contributor or technical specialist role where they can excel without the burden of management.

If they are a perfect Core Values fit, your goal is to keep them in the company but move them to a seat where they can succeed. Redesign your Accountability Chart to create a specialized role that leverages their deep institutional knowledge. Remove the management and strategic planning responsibilities from that seat.

Sit down with them and have an honest conversation. Explain that the company is scaling and the demands of their current seat have outgrown their natural capacity. Frame this not as a demotion, but as a strategic realignment to protect their well-being and leverage their unique strengths. If they refuse to accept a non-leadership seat, you must part ways. Keeping an overwhelmed leader in an executive seat will eventually cap your company growth.