A founding executive has world-class alignment with our core values, but our rapid growth has outpaced their technical and strategic capabilities. How do we address this capability gap without gutting company culture?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is the classic Right Person, Wrong Seat dilemma. It is one of the most agonizing decisions an entrepreneur faces, because this individual bled for the company in its early stages and embodies every single one of your core values. However, loyalty to an underperforming executive is an act of disloyalty to the rest of the company.

First, evaluate the leader objectively using GWC. Do they truly get the evolving seat, want the daily demands of running it at your current scale, and have the mental, emotional, and physical capacity to execute? If the answer to Capacity is no, you must accept that the company has simply grown faster than their personal capacity to scale. Keeping them in the seat forces peers to carry their workload, which quietly erodes morale across your top tier.

Second, have an open, unsentimental conversation with the executive outside the Level 10 Meeting. Most struggling long-tenured leaders are privately exhausted and know they are falling behind. Do not blindside them. Lay out the Accountabilities of the seat at your current revenue scale and ask them for an honest self-assessment.

Third, separate their presence in the business from their presence on the leadership team. If they are a true Right Person, explore whether there is a specialized, non-executive seat on the Accountability Chart where their deep institutional knowledge and core values alignment add massive enterprise value without bottlenecking executive operations. If no such seat exists, assist them in making a dignified exit that honors their contributions without mortgaging the company's future.