We have a core values match who is beloved by the entire team, but we restructured our Accountability Chart for our upcoming exit, and she no longer GWC's her new seat. We do not have another seat for her. How do we handle this Right Person, Wrong Seat situation?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Having a Right Person in the Wrong Seat is one of the hardest challenges a leadership team will face, especially when preparing for an exit. This is a person who perfectly matches your core values and has high cultural capital, but they simply do not GWC™ their current seat. As your company scales and automates, seats grow and require new skills. If a loyal employee cannot keep up, you have a structural problem.

You cannot afford to keep this person in the seat out of sentimentality. Doing so hurts your operational metrics, frustrates the team members who have to pick up the slack, and signals to the rest of the company that performance does not actually matter.

First, look at your Accountability Chart to see if there is another open seat where this person is a perfect fit and has the GWC™. If such a seat exists and fits your budget, make the move.

Howsoever, if there is no other seat available, you must make the difficult decision to transition them out of the company. Keeping them in a seat they cannot succeed in is not fair to them or the business. Do this transition with deep respect, appreciation, and generous severance. Buyers look at the strength of your leadership team and operational metrics, so you must ensure every single seat is filled by a person who is both a Right Person and in the Right Seat.