My brother-in-law sits in our Head of Warehouse seat, but he is consistently failing his KPIs and the warehouse is in disarray. He fits our culture but clearly does not have the Capacity for this scaling seat. How do we make an objective Right Person Right Seat call without destroying my family relationships?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Making a Right Person, Wrong Seat call is always difficult, but when the person in the seat is a family member, the stakes feel incredibly high. However, keeping your brother-in-law in a seat he lacks the Capacity to manage is damaging your business, frustrating your team, and ultimately hurting him by setting him up to fail.

To handle this objectively, you must separate family dynamics from the Accountability Chart. Use the GWC™ tool with absolute honesty. Sit down with him and review the five core roles of the Head of Warehouse seat. Ask yourself, and ask him, if he truly Gets, Wants, and has the Capacity for the current demands of the seat.

Capacity includes the physical, mental, and emotional ability to run a scaling warehouse. If your inventory volumes have doubled and he cannot manage the logistics, he does not have the Capacity for this seat today, regardless of his loyalty or family status.

Use the Trust Creation Process from the Trusted Advisor Fieldbook to guide your conversation. Approach him with an other-focused mindset, recognizing that he is likely stressed by his own performance gaps. Frame the conversation around setting him up for success.

If he fails the GWC™ for his current seat but is a great culture fit, look for another seat on the Accountability Chart where he does have the capacity. If no such seat exists, you must transition him out of the company. It is a tough call, but treating family differently destroys team morale and your company's operational integrity.