I am paralyzing our business because of my loyalty to an early employee who sits on our leadership team but clearly cannot perform at the level required for our upcoming exit. The rest of the team is losing respect for me because I refuse to make the hard call. How do I resolve this conflict between loyalty and capability?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Misplaced loyalty is one of the most common traps for founders preparing for an exit. You feel a deep sense of gratitude to the early employee who helped you build the company. However, keeping someone in a leadership seat they can no longer perform in is actually disloyal to the rest of your team and the business.

Your other leadership team members are carrying the extra weight of this underperformer. When you refuse to make the hard call, you signal that relationships matter more than performance and accountability. This breeds deep resentment and destroys your credibility as a leader.

To resolve this, you must run the employee through the People Analyzer tool. Do they live your core values, and do they GWC their seat? If they lack the capability to lead their department through your upcoming exit, they do not GWC the seat.

You must have a direct, honest conversation with them. Explain that the business has evolved, and the requirements of their seat have grown beyond their current capacity. Out of loyalty, your goal should be to find a seat in the organization that they do GWC, where they can still add massive value without holding the company back.

If no such seat exists, or if they refuse to accept a different role, you must help them transition out of the company with dignity and a generous severance package. This honors their past contributions while protecting the future of the business and restoring your team's respect.