We have a co-founder who perfectly matches our Core Values but simply does not GWC™ their seat on the Accountability Chart as we scale. How do we resolve this without destroying our company culture or losing their institutional knowledge?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is the classic right person, wrong seat dilemma, and it is one of the hardest challenges an owner will face. Because this person is a co-founder and a cultural champion, your leadership team will be tempted to ignore the issue. Doing so will slowly kill your operational execution.

First, you must separate the person from the seat. On the Accountability Chart, every seat must have five clear roles. Ask yourself objectively: does this co-founder truly get, want, and have the capacity to do this specific job at our current scale? If the answer is no to any of those three, they cannot stay in that seat.

Second, look for another seat on the Accountability Chart where they do GWC™ the roles. Because they are a right person who fits your Core Values, you want to keep them in the organization if possible. Perhaps they belong in a specialized creative or advisory role that utilizes their institutional knowledge without requiring them to manage people or operations.

Third, if there is no seat that fits, you must make the hard decision to transition them out of the business. Keeping someone in a seat they do not GWC™ frustrates them and holds back the entire company. Handling this transition with transparency and respect is how you protect your culture.