Our business has grown from ten million to thirty million in revenue, and our Head of Marketing is completely overwhelmed. They were brilliant at executing tactics when we were small, but they cannot build a strategic department or manage a growing team. How do we transition this leader out of their seat without losing their tactical genius?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic case of a leader hitting their personal ceiling as the business scales. To solve this, we must look at the Accountability Chart objectively. Every seat on the chart must be defined by five major responsibilities. If your current Head of Marketing does not GWC their seat, meaning they do not get it, want it, or have the capacity to do it at this new thirty million dollar level, you must make a change.

But making a change does not have to mean showing them the door. If they are a perfect core values fit and are still incredibly valuable at execution, you can restructure the Accountability Chart to create a new seat that leverages their tactical strengths. For example, you might hire a true, strategic Chief Marketing Officer who GWC's the leadership level seat, and transition your legacy leader into a highly focused specialist role, such as Director of Brand or Head of Digital Strategy, reporting to the new CMO.

To execute this, you must have an honest, compassionate, and direct conversation. Frame the change around the reality of the business's growth and the capacity of the seat, not their personal failure. Explain that the complexity of the current seat is diluting their unique ability. By matching their true strengths to a focused execution seat while bringing in a strategic leader to run the department, you protect the business, support your growth goals, and keep a valuable team member doing what they love.