We have co-heads of our business development team because I did not want to choose between two top performers, but this shared leadership is causing mixed signals and lagging metrics. How do we restructure this on our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Having co-heads of any department is a structural mistake that violates the fundamental rule of the Accountability Chart: only one name can be accountable for a seat. When two people share a seat, nobody is truly accountable, leading to mixed signals, team confusion, and lagging metrics.

You must restructure this department immediately. Start by defining the strategic needs of your sales seat on the Accountability Chart. Look at the five major roles required to drive your growth toward a clean exit.

Once the seat and its roles are clearly defined, evaluate both individuals against those requirements using the GWC™ tool. Determine who is the best fit to lead the department. The other individual must either report to the new head or transition to a different seat on the Accountability Chart that matches their strengths, such as strategic accounts or enterprise sales.

If both are highly capable but have different strengths, you might split the department into two distinct seats, such as New Business Acquisition and Account Management. Each seat must have its own clear accountabilities and metrics. Whatever you do, eliminate the co-head structure. Clean execution requires absolute clarity of ownership.