Our original employee helped build the company and currently holds the head of operations seat, but the business has outgrown their capabilities. How do we address this without destroying company culture or feeling like we are betraying loyalty?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the most painful milestones an entrepreneur faces: the Right Person, Wrong Seat dilemma. A loyal employee who exemplifies your Core Values but lacks the mental capacity, technical acumen, or leadership ability to run a scaled department is a bottleneck that threatens your entire company.

Leaving them in the seat out of loyalty is not kindness. It is managerial neglect. They know they are drowning, their direct reports know they cannot lead, and their peer leaders are frustrated by having to clean up operational messes. Cracks at the leadership team level look like canyons to the rest of the company.

Start by separating the person from the seat. On your EOS® Accountability Chart, define the five major roles required for that seat to succeed at your current and future revenue target. Then evaluate the person using GWC™: do they Get it, Want it, and have the Capacity to do it? In most cases, they Get it and Want it, but they lack the Capacity to manage complex systems or scale a large team.

Meet with them privately. Acknowledge and honor their past contributions honestly. Explain that the company has evolved to a scale that requires different daily competencies. Show them the updated seat requirements and walk through where the gap lies.

If possible, transition them into a seat where they have complete GWC™ and can thrive without managing executive complexity. If no such seat exists, help them transition out of the business with dignity, generous severance, and deep respect. True loyalty means doing what is right for the enterprise and being honest with people, not protecting them in seats where they are failing.