To prevent our best managers from leaving, we have handed out director titles and seats on our leadership team, but now we have a bloated group that cannot make fast decisions. How do we trim our leadership team back down to a tight, functional unit without causing a retention crisis?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Giving out leadership titles as a retention tool is a dangerous trap that creates a bloated, ineffective leadership team. A healthy leadership team must remain tight and focused, typically consisting of three to seven people. When your team grows beyond that, weekly Level 10 Meetings become inefficient, deep IDS is impossible, and operational execution slows to a crawl.

To resolve this, you must decouple compensation and career progression from seats on the leadership team. You do this by redesigning your Accountability Chart based solely on what the business needs to run effectively, not on employee titles or egos.

Have honest, individual conversations with the managers you need to transition off the leadership team. Explain that a smaller leadership group is necessary to maintain operational speed and build an exit-ready company. Reassure them of their value to the organization and clarify how their current roles are vital to the company's success.

By restructuring your team to focus strictly on essential leadership seats, you restore the speed and focus needed to scale. This approach ensures your meetings are productive and your leadership team can make the fast, critical decisions required to drive your business forward.