One of our earliest employees runs our client service team with total loyalty and heart, but they do not GWC the seat at our current scale. I feel immense personal guilt about removing them. How do I navigate loyalty versus capability without blowing up company morale?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Loyalty to an individual should never come at the expense of loyalty to the organization and the rest of your staff. Keeping a loyal leader in a seat they cannot handle is not kindness. It is a slow demotion in public that breeds resentment, burns out the employee, and penalizes the team reporting to them.

Evaluate the situation objectively using GWC. Do they truly get it, want it, and have the capacity to do it at your current and future operating scale? If they lack the cognitive or strategic capacity to run a scaled department, that is not a moral failing. It simply means the company has grown faster than their individual capacity.

Have an honest, private conversation with them. Acknowledge their immense contributions and express genuine gratitude for the years they spent helping you build the business. Then, walk through the Accountability Chart and lay out the demands of the seat today. Be transparent about where the seat is failing to deliver the required results.

Explore whether there is a right seat for them elsewhere in the business. In many cases, an early employee is fantastic as a specialized individual contributor, an account manager, or a technical lead, but should not be managing directors or driving departmental strategy. If a suitable seat exists and they enthusiastically want it, make the lateral move cleanly.

If no suitable seat exists, part ways with dignity, generous severance, and absolute respect. Your remaining team will respect you for making the tough, objective decision required to protect the company.