We have an account manager who lives our core values better than anyone and is beloved by our clients, but he routinely misses his revenue targets because he lacks the analytical capacity for the seat. How do we handle this Right Person, Wrong Seat dilemma without damaging company morale?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A Right Person in the Wrong Seat is painful because you genuinely want the individual to succeed. They pass your Core Values with flying colors, but they fail GWC. In this case, your account manager Gets the job and Wants the job, but lacks the Capacity to deliver the analytical and commercial results required by the seat.

Tolerating this failure sends a dangerous message to the rest of the company. It tells your high performers that hitting measurables does not matter as long as people like you. Over time, other team members will resent having to pick up the slack.

Your responsibility as a leader is to resolve this within ninety days. You have two choices: find a seat on the Accountability Chart where they have complete GWC, or help them transition out of the organization with respect.

First, review your current Accountability Chart and your future seat needs. Is there an open seat where their strengths, such as relationship building, client empathy, or brand evangelism, are the primary requirements? For example, they might struggle with quota-driven contract negotiations, but excel in a Client Care Specialist or Community Coordinator seat where analytical forecasting is not a core role.

If a legitimate seat exists and they have GWC for it, move them into it with clear roles and scorecard measurables. If no such seat exists, you must not invent a make-work seat just to keep them around. Have an honest conversation, explain the structural gap, and help them exit gracefully.