We have a leadership team member who has great GWC™ for her seat and delivers excellent results, but she consistently undermines our core values by treating junior staff poorly. How do we handle this Right Seat, Wrong Person situation when we are close to an exit?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A leader who delivers great results but undermines your culture is a classic Right Seat, Wrong Person dilemma. In the short term, they might seem indispensable because they hit their targets and keep operations moving. However, keeping a toxic person on your leadership team as you prepare for an exit is a critical mistake.

Buyers look closely at company culture and leadership stability. A toxic leader creates high employee turnover, lowers morale, and increases key-person risk. If your team is miserable, your operations are fragile. When a buyer acquires the business, they want to know the leadership team will remain intact and motivated. A toxic manager is highly likely to cause a mass exodus once you step away.

You must address this immediately using the People Analyzer™. Sit down with the individual and clearly communicate where they are falling short of your core values. Give them a specific, thirty-day timeline to turn their behavior around. If they do not align with your culture, you must let them go, regardless of their performance. It is always better to have a vacant seat that you are actively recruiting for than a toxic person destroying your company from within. Resolving this before you go to market shows buyers that you run a disciplined, values-driven organization.