Our Chief Operating Officer has full GWC for both the Head of Operations seat and the Head of Product Development seat, but dividing focus between client delivery and software engineering is slowing both down. How do we separate these seats when one leader genuinely excels at both?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Having one person successfully hold two major leadership seats is a common temporary bridge during early growth, but it quickly becomes an operational choke point. Even when a leader has the mental capacity and capability to execute both functions, time and attention are finite.

When Operations and Product Development share a single leader, delivery crises will always consume software innovation, or new product features will distract from client fulfillment quality. The business inevitably stalls.

To address this, acknowledge first that on the Accountability Chart, Operations and Product Development must be distinct seats. Operations focuses on delivering today's commitments with consistency and margin control. Product Development focuses on building tomorrow's capabilities. These two functions have opposing tensions and must be separated.

Next, sit down with the executive for an honest conversation. While they may have the Get It and Capacity for both roles, no human being has the capacity to lead two mission-critical departments at scale. Explain that keeping both seats creates key-person risk and limits company value.

Ask the leader which seat they genuinely Want more. Which domain aligns with their highest and best use for the next three years? Once they make the choice, they commit to owning that single seat fully.

For the second seat, build a concrete transition plan. Set a quarterly Rock to hire or promote a successor. The current executive can mentor the incoming seat holder, but the accountability line must be severed within a defined timeline. Two seats, two names.