Our sales volume is skyrocketing and we have two top-performing account managers who both want to step up. They have proposed sharing the Head of Sales seat as co-directors, split by region. Can we have two people in this single leadership seat, or are we setting ourselves up for an operational nightmare?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Having two people share a single seat is an operational disaster. In EOS®, we believe that if two people are responsible, nobody is responsible. Split accountability leads to finger-pointing, slow decision-making, and total confusion for the direct reports who do not know which boss to listen to.

If you have two stellar account managers who both want to step up to the Head of Sales seat, you cannot make them co-directors. You must make a hard choice.

First, look at the Accountability Chart and evaluate both candidates against the GWC™ tool for that single seat. Who gets it, wants it, and has the capacity to lead, manage, and hold people accountable? Leading a team is a completely different skill than managing accounts.

If both pass GWC™, look at their conative profiles. Use the Kolbe Index to see who has the natural problem-solving drive that matches the seat's daily realities.

If they are still neck-and-neck, you must choose one to own the seat. To retain the other, you must find or create another valuable seat on the Accountability Chart. Perhaps you split your sales department into two distinct territories or product lines, creating two separate seats that each report directly to the Integrator.

Whatever you do, do not compromise by putting both names in one box. Draw two distinct boxes with clearly defined boundaries, or choose one leader and let the other excel in a senior individual contributor seat.