We have two veteran project directors who co-lead our delivery division, and neither will accept reporting to the other. How do we structure the Accountability Chart when two leaders insist on sharing a single department head seat?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When two names sit in one seat, nobody is truly accountable. If delivery misses its gross margin target or drops a client deadline, each person points at the other, and the team below them receives mixed signals. You must separate the work or choose one leader.

Start by evaluating the business need rather than executive egos. Does the company actually require two distinct seats? In a project business, that often looks like splitting the function by market, geography, or service line. One leader takes Commercial Accounts and the other takes Enterprise Infrastructure. Each seat gets its own five roles, its own Scorecard numbers, and its own direct reports.

If the function cannot be logically split and represents a single seat, you must choose one person to lead the department. Evaluate both leaders against the seat using GWC. Determine who genuinely Gets it, Wants it, and has the Capacity to lead the entire department to your future revenue targets.

The person not chosen has two choices. They can report to the new department head as a senior individual contributor or practice lead, or they can transition out of the business. Catering to executive pride by compromising structural clarity creates organizational drag. A clean Accountability Chart requires one seat, five roles, and one accountable name.