Our top business development executive generates thirty percent of our new revenue, but he routinely violates our core values by treating our project managers poorly and hoarding pipeline data. How do we make the Right Person Right Seat call without wrecking our revenue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You are dealing with the classic organizational trap: the brilliant jerk. He is in the Right Seat because he gets, wants, and has the capacity to sell. But he is the Wrong Person because he fails your core values. Tolerating him destroys your culture and signals to every other employee that revenue matters more than integrity.

Use the EOS People Analyzer to evaluate him objectively against your core values. If he receives minus scores on core values, you must address the deficit immediately. Do not dance around the issue.

Schedule a private conversation using the three-strike rule:
- Clearly define the specific behavioral violations using concrete examples
- Explain the standard expected of every leader on the Accountability Chart
- Give him thirty days to correct the behavior, with a clear thirty-day check-in

If he modifies his behavior and lives the values, the issue is resolved. If he continues his toxic behavior, you must terminate him. Keeping a cultural terrorist on your leadership team drives away high-performing team players, paralyzes cross-departmental trust, and cripples your operational capacity.

Protect your revenue by actively cross-training a backup account manager and documenting all client touchpoints into your CRM during the evaluation window. You will find that when you eliminate a toxic top producer, the rest of your team rallies and sales recover faster than expected.