My brother-in-law currently sits in our VP of Operations seat on the leadership team, but he is clearly failing to hit his numbers and lacks the GWC for the role. The rest of the leadership team sees this and is starting to resent both of us. How do I remove a family member from a key leadership seat without destroying my family relationships or the company?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Running a business with family requires a hard separation between the kitchen table and the conference room table. When a family member is in a leadership seat they do not GWC, they are stalling the business and destroying your credibility with the rest of the team. Non-family leaders are watching closely to see if your core values apply to everyone or if there is a bloodline exemption.

First, run them through the GWC tool. Do they truly get, want, and have the capacity for the operations seat? If the answer is no to any of these, you must remove them from that seat immediately. This does not mean you have to fire them from the company. It means they must step down from the leadership team.

Sit down with them outside of office hours. Frame the conversation around the Accountability Chart and the health of the organization. Explain that the requirements of the seat have outgrown their current capacity, which is hurting the team and placing unfair pressure on them.

Offer them a seat further down the chart where they do GWC the role, or help them transition out of the business with a generous, professional exit package. Be direct, compassionate, and unwavering. If you compromise on the standard of GWC for family, you signal to your entire leadership team that performance and accountability do not actually matter.