We have two highly capable leaders whose seats on the Accountability Chart have overlapping responsibilities, leading to constant turf wars over who owns key strategic projects. How do we cleanly redefine these seats without losing either of these high-performing executives?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Overlapping responsibilities on your leadership team create a breeding ground for political infighting and slow execution. When two capable leaders share turf, they waste energy second-guessing each other instead of driving the company forward.

To resolve this, you must run the issue through the IDS® process with your Accountability Chart in hand. You cannot have two people accountable for the same seat or role. There must be one, and only one, person who is ultimately accountable for every seat on the chart.

Sit down with both leaders and review their current roles. Redefine the boundaries of their seats with absolute precision. Use the GWC™ framework to ensure each leader truly gets, wants, and has the capacity to own their newly defined roles.

If there are specific projects where their work must intersect, clearly define who is the driver and who is the supporter. The driver has the final decision-making authority, while the supporter provides input.

Documenting these boundaries reduces friction and allows your team to move faster. It also shows potential buyers that your business has a clean, scalable organizational structure that is not dependent on personal relationships to get work done.