One or two key leaders on the team are completely carrying the weight of the company's growth, while other leadership seats are cruising. How do we address this unequal workload on the leadership team without causing a mutiny?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a business is scaling, it is common for a few high-performing leaders to carry a disproportionate amount of the workload. Meanwhile, other seats on the leadership team may be cruising, leading to resentment, friction, and eventual burnout of your top talent.

This imbalance usually stems from a poorly structured Accountability Chart or a failure to delegate. You cannot afford to lose your key players to burnout, especially if you are preparing for a clean exit. You must rebalance the workload to keep the team healthy and functional.

Start by looking at the seats, not the people. Analyze the roles and the Rocks assigned to each seat. If one leader has seven critical roles while another has three, you have a structural issue that needs to be resolved.

Rebalance your leadership workload using these tactics:
- Conduct a Delegate and Elevate™ exercise with your entire leadership team to identify tasks that can be moved down.
- Redesign the Accountability Chart to redistribute roles more equitably.
- Limit each leader to three to five Rocks per quarter to ensure they are focusing on high-value initiatives.
- Cross-train leaders on key processes to share the operational burden during peak times.

A balanced leadership team runs more smoothly, reduces key-person risk, and increases the enterprise value of your business.