The Energy Drain of the Wrong Person in the Wrong Seat

Have you ever thought about how much energy it takes to keep the wrong person in the wrong seat in your business? Whether you realize it or not, the energy drain takes a toll on you as the leader and on the company itself in lost production and morale.

The wrong person doesn’t always look like a Disney villain. In fact, they can be super friendly and fun to be around. But when it comes to completing the actual roles for their seat, that’s where the fun ends.

Identifying the Wrong Person in the Wrong Seat

Chances are you already know someone is the wrong person in the wrong seat. You feel it in your bones every time you need to have a conversation with them or have to defend them to co-workers.

Instead of relying on your gut instinct or the anecdotal sentiments of others around you, use The People Analyzer®. You’ll be rating the person on how well they align with and exemplify the company’s Core Values and how well they GWC™ (Get it, Want it, and have the Capacity to do) their role on The Accountability Chart®.

The results of The People Analyzer will provide you with objective proof of whether someone truly is the wrong person in the wrong seat. And you’ll have specific points to discuss with a person who is clearly below the bar.

Inspirational Energy

It takes a lot of energy to hype up the wrong person in the wrong seat. I had a client call this inspirational energy. If you’re constantly trying to inspire the wrong person to GWC their roles, well, that takes energy – a lot of it.

As the leader and manager of that person, you’re also expending inspirational energy to convince other people to be patient with the wrong person in the wrong seat. This is a poor use of a manager’s time and really starts to deflate the energy of the great people in your organization.

The wrong person may get a little bit of their role done, which might convince you it’s better to have someone (anyone) in that role than to leave it empty.

In the end, other people – maybe even you – have to pick up the slack. Or an important part of your process just isn’t getting done. Plus, people understandably get cranky when they think someone else is getting away with not pulling their weight.

Better Use of Energy

Instead of spending your energy on keeping the wrong person in the wrong seat, ask yourself how you can better use your time. Would you get a better ROI (return on your inspiration) by spending that energy on the right people in the right seats? 

Could it better serve the Greater Good of the organization?