We are integrating a competitor we just acquired, and our leadership team is trying to merge both executive teams by inventing hybrid seats for everyone. How do we use the structure before people rule to integrate the business without creating organizational paralysis?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Trying to accommodate two full executive teams by building custom seats around individuals is the fastest way to ruin an acquisition. It creates overlapping authority, destroys margins, and guarantees political gridlock. You must take all names off the table and build the Accountability Chart for the combined entity from a completely blank slate.

Start with the five essential functions of an operating business: Visionary, Integrator, Sales and Marketing, Operations, and Finance. Define the structure needed to hit the combined revenue and operational goals outlined in your V/TO for the next six to twelve months. For every seat, write down no more than five major roles. Only after the leadership team formally agrees that this structure can deliver the plan do you begin the process of placing names into seats.

You now have two candidate pools for a single set of leadership seats. Evaluate each candidate objectively using the People Analyzer. Every person must consistently exhibit your core values and pass the GWC test for the seat. When two capable leaders qualify for a single leadership seat, choose the individual with the highest capacity and clear desire to execute the defined roles.

The other leader must either step down into a lower-tier functional seat where real work needs to be done or exit the organization. Creating co-director roles or parallel advisory seats just to soften the blow will paralyze your business.