Our long-term operations manager is a perfect core values fit and possesses immense historical knowledge, but as we build a clean exit strategy, his lack of experience with scaled supply chains is hurting our valuation. How do we handle this right-person-wrong-seat dilemma without losing his institutional knowledge?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is one of the hardest calls a business owner has to make, especially when preparing for an exit. A legacy manager who embodies your core values but lacks the capacity for a scaled operation represents a significant risk to your valuation. Potential buyers will quickly spot this capability gap and discount your purchase price. You must address this right-person-wrong-seat issue immediately. Protecting this manager out of sentimentality is actually doing them a disservice and hurting the company. Start by having an open, honest conversation using the GWC™ framework. It is likely they already feel the stress of being in a seat that has grown past their current capabilities. To solve this, look for a different seat on your Accountability Chart where they can succeed and deliver massive value. This might mean moving them into a specialized technical role, an advisory position, or a narrower operational seat where their deep institutional knowledge is an asset, not a bottleneck. Once they are transitioned, you can recruit an experienced leader who fully GWCs the scaled operations seat. This moves the business forward, protects your culture by keeping a core values fit on the team, and shows buyers you have the professional management layer required for a clean, premium exit.