My brother sits in our Operations seat. He is completely dedicated to the company, but as we crossed twenty million dollars in revenue, he clearly lacks the capacity to run our complex supply chain. How do I make an objective Right Person, Right Seat decision on a family member without blowing up my family?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Running a family business does not exempt you from the laws of operational accountability. When a family member sits in a critical seat they cannot handle, every other leader on the team sees the double standard. It degrades trust, demoralizes high performers, and caps the growth of the company.

Separate family relationships from business seats by relying strictly on the People Analyzer. Evaluate their performance against the five roles defined for the Operations seat. If they do not pass the Capacity component of GWC™, you are dealing with an objective structural reality, not a personal dispute.

Handle the transition through a direct, private conversation:
- Ground the discussion in your Core Values and the long-term vision in your V/TO®.
- Explain that the complexity of the supply chain has outgrown what any single non-specialist can run at this scale.
- Remove the emotional charge by focusing on business health. Acknowledge what they built and clarify that forcing them to stay in an overwhelming seat damages both the company and their personal well-being.
- Explore whether a better-fitting seat exists where they pass GWC, such as facility management, key vendor relations, or culture initiatives.

If no suitable seat exists, help them transition out of the business with dignity, market compensation, and gratitude. Remind them that your job as an owner is to protect the enterprise for all stakeholders, including the family. Tolerating a seat failure out of guilt is the fastest way to destroy both the business and the family bond.