I have a loyal department head who has been with me since day one, but we have outgrown their operational capacity and they are holding the leadership team back. How do I navigate the tension between loyalty and the business capability we need to scale?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the hardest challenges an owner will face, but you must separate historical loyalty from current capability. The hard truth is that the people who got you to this level are not always the people who can take you to the next level. If you keep someone in a leadership seat they can no longer handle, you are hurting the business, frustrating the rest of your leadership team, and setting that loyal employee up to fail.

To handle this cleanly, use the EOS® People Analyzer™ to evaluate this person objectively. First, do they share your core values? If they do, they are a Right Person. Second, evaluate them against their specific seat on the Accountability Chart using GWC™. Do they Get it? Do they Want it? Do they have the Capacity to do it?

Capacity is where long-term employees usually hit their ceiling. Capacity is not just about time. It is about mental capacity, skills, experience, and the emotional intelligence required to run a larger department.

If they do not GWC their seat, they are in the wrong seat. Because they are a Right Person who shares your core values, your goal is to find a Right Seat where they can succeed. This might mean moving them out of the leadership seat and into an individual contributor role, a specialized technical role, or a smaller department. Be honest, direct, and compassionate. Explain that the complexity of the seat has grown beyond their current capacity, and you want to put them in a position where they can win again.