We have two highly competitive senior sales reps who both want the open Sales Director seat. To avoid losing either of them to a competitor, we are considering letting them share the seat as co-directors on our Accountability Chart. How do we handle this without causing chaos in our sales pipeline?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You cannot have two names in one seat on your Accountability Chart. Doing this to appease egos or prevent turnover is a short-term fix that creates long-term operational paralysis. In the EOS framework, accountability must be absolute. If two people share the Sales Director seat, no one is ultimately accountable for the sales target. When numbers miss, they will point fingers or assume the other person had it covered. Your team will also suffer from double-boss syndrome, getting conflicting direction on deals and strategy. Instead of compromising your structure, you must design the ideal Sales Director seat with one clear set of roles and responsibilities. Then, run a clean GWC check on both candidates. Evaluate who truly gets it, wants it, and has the capacity to do it. For the candidate who does not get the seat, you have a different conversation. If they are a right person in a right seat as an individual contributor, leverage their skills there. Create a path for them to expand their impact, perhaps by managing key strategic accounts or leading training. But do not break your Accountability Chart structure to manage their feelings. If you bend the rules now, you signal to your entire organization that structure is negotiable, which will destroy your operational discipline and tank your company value before an exit.