One of our early directors is my close personal friend and has been a cornerstone of our company culture for ten years, but they are completely overwhelmed by our modern operational requirements and are holding back our growth. How do I navigate this conflict between personal loyalty and the need for high-level capability as we prepare for an exit?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the hardest challenges a business owner will ever face, but as you prepare for an exit, you must be unsentimental. Personal loyalty cannot buy operational capability. Keeping someone in a seat they do not GWC™ which is Get, Want, or have the Capacity to do, out of loyalty is actually doing them, and your business, a major disservice.

Start by separating the person from the seat. Use the People Analyzer™ to evaluate them. They likely pass the Core Values test with flying colors. However, when you look at their specific seat on the Accountability Chart, they do not have the capacity to deliver the results required at your current scale.

Have a candid, compassionate conversation. Tell them how much you value their contribution and their cultural impact. Explain that the business has grown to a point where their current seat requires a level of specialized operational capability that is not a fit for their strengths.

Explore whether there is another seat on the Accountability Chart that they do GWC™ and where they can still add massive value. This might be a legacy preservation role, a cultural ambassador role, or a specialized technical seat that does not involve managing people or complex workflows. If such a seat exists and fits your budget, transition them. If no such seat exists, you must help them transition out of the company with dignity and a generous severance package. Protecting your company's value for a clean exit requires making the right decision for the organization first.