As EOS Implementers, we see this over and over again. A leadership team knows they have a Right Person/Right Seat (RP/RS) issue. They nod in agreement. They even score the People Analyzer honestly. Yet when it comes time to act, they hesitate.
It’s usually someone who’s been around for years—a loyal long-timer, a family member, or a “good human” who’s simply no longer a fit. Sometimes it’s a hiring mistake we’re reluctant to admit.
Sound familiar?
I’ve been there myself more times than I care to count. We rationalize, delay, and end up choosing the first two of the Four T’s from the world of risk management: Tolerate, Transfer, Treat, or Terminate.
In EOS, we coach teams to use the People Analyzer and GWC (Get It, Want It, Capacity to Do It) to clearly and courageously determine who fits your Core Values and who belongs in each Seat. Anything short of addressing a poor fit, head-on, undermines your Core Values and the integrity of your Accountability Chart™.
Then, one day, during a webinar, Mary Pat Knight (author of The Humanized Leader) called me out—lovingly, but directly. She reminded me of the Drama Triangle: Victim, Persecutor, Hero.
And there I was, sitting squarely in the Hero seat—avoiding conflict, rationalizing underperformance, and rescuing others from the discomfort of accountability. I wasn’t treating the issue. I wasn’t calling Strike 1. I wasn’t being clear.
And as we say in EOS: “It’s unkind to be unclear.”
But worse—it’s unwise. When we avoid the hard conversations, our team suffers. Performance drops. Morale erodes. Accountability gets blurry. And here’s the kicker—others always see it before we do. They’re often quietly counting the days until we act.
That’s why I now coach teams to drop the Hero cape.
Instead:
- Treat the issue—have the conversation, coach the behavior.
- If that doesn’t work, Terminate—lovingly, respectfully, swiftly.
- And whatever you do, never Tolerate.
Transferring someone to another seat only works if they are 100% RP/RS for that new seat. Otherwise, it’s just kicking the can down the hall—and the team knows it.
If you’ve got a gut feeling that someone isn’t a fit, trust the process. Use the tools:
- People Analyzer
- GWC
- LMA (Lead, Manage, and hold Accountable)
- The Accountability Chart
Decide. Take the Clarity Break you’ve been avoiding. Get some courage from a friend or a coach. Then act.
Because, as Gino Wickman writes in Decide!, “The only reason you have a problem is that you haven’t made a decision.”
