One of our earliest employees is a beloved culture champion who completely embodies our core values, but our company has outgrown him and he can no longer handle our Head of Marketing seat. How do we resolve this Right Person, Wrong Seat dilemma without damaging team morale?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the most painful calls an owner ever makes. An employee scores all pluses on your People Analyzer for core values, but fails the GWC evaluation for their seat. They get it and they want it, but as the company scaled, they simply lack the capacity to drive strategic acquisition, marketing technology, and measurable revenue attribution.

Leaving this person in the seat out of personal loyalty is not kindness. It burns out the employee, frustrates the rest of the leadership team who must carry their slack, and communicates to your staff that performance standards do not matter.

Handle it directly and with dignity:

- Assess the entire Accountability Chart for a true fit. Look across your organization to see if there is an open seat where this individual genuinely possesses GWC for all five roles. Often, early-stage leaders make phenomenal client success managers, community liaisons, or culture directors once relieved of strategic executive pressure.
- If a legitimate seat exists, transition them cleanly with explicit new metrics and roles. Do not invent a fake seat or create administrative bloat just to keep them on payroll. Institutional buyers spot fake seats instantly.
- If no legitimate seat exists where they have GWC, transition them out of the company with respect, transparency, and a fair severance package. Tell the team the truth: they are an incredible culture fit, but the technical demands of the seat have changed.

Protecting the standard of your seats is non-negotiable if you expect to scale and exit cleanly.