Wrong Seat, Right Person? Or Just the Wrong Person?

You already know what it feels like when something’s off on your team. The little hesitations. The friction in follow-up. The quiet reassignment of tasks that nobody really talks about, but everybody sees. And you tell yourself: they’re learning. They’re loyal. They just need a little more support.

But what if they don’t?

What if they’re not struggling because they need more — but because they need different?

When Loyalty Becomes a Liability

Here’s a question I ask every client eventually:

“If you had to fire your entire team and start from scratch, who would you rehire — and for which role?”

It cuts through the fluff real fast.

In nearly every case, there are a few names that immediately get mentioned. 

It’s not that they’re bad people. It’s not even that they’re bad employees. It’s that the company has evolved, and the seat they’re in just doesn’t match who they are (or where the business is headed).

Keeping someone in a seat that doesn’t fit doesn’t help them. It just drags down the entire machine.

Stop Guessing. Start Auditing.

One of my clients recently hit this wall. Their ops team was showing signs of strain and things were slipping. Quarterly Projects were slowing, and two team members were consistently overwhelmed.

The instinct was to troubleshoot.

Should we get them more training? Should we realign priorities? Should we wait it out?

No. We needed clarity. Fast.

That’s when I introduced the Role Audit Exercise — the same one I use inside my coaching programs:

The Role Audit (aka The 20-Task Test)

1. Write down the top 20 responsibilities for the team member’s current role (You may already have this in an accountability chart).

2. Rate each responsibility on a scale from 1 to 10 based on how well they execute it.

3. Anything 7 or below? That task comes off their plate.

4. Now assess the data:

Are most of their tasks falling in the 7-or-below zone?
Is there a clear theme to what they do excel at?

If the bulk of their job is in the bottom third — that’s not a wrong seat. That’s the wrong team.

Misalignment Isn’t Passive. It Spreads.

Keeping someone in the wrong seat isn’t just about that one person. It’s a culture issue.

Their peers start picking up slack.
Managers become firefighters instead of leaders.
High-performers start to ask: “Why am I pushing so hard when they’re just coasting?”

This is the moment where your team’s culture quietly shifts from ownership to resentment. Not because you made a dramatic mistake, but because you tolerated misalignment for too long.

And that’s when mediocrity becomes the norm.

Don’t Rescue. Realign.

This isn’t a witch hunt. It’s not about catching people failing. It’s about getting your people to a place where they can win.

If someone’s in the wrong seat but is the right person? Move them. Change the role. Reassign the responsibilities.

But if they’re not the right person — no seat in your org is going to fix that. You’re just delaying the inevitable.

Here’s what I recommend:

Quarterly Role Audits

Roles evolve. Expectations change. Make audits a part of your quarterly leadership rhythm.  (Again, use your Accountability Chart for documenting this.)

Use the 20-Task Test

It’s brutally simple and that’s the point. If a role can’t be clearly measured, it can’t be effectively managed.

Stop Saving People Who Weren’t a Fit

They’re not broken. They just weren’t meant for the seat you hired them into. And that’s OK. But it’s on you to acknowledge that and act on it.

Celebrate the Wins

If someone is in the right seat and thriving? Call it out. Show the team what alignment looks like.

The worst seat on your team isn’t the empty one.

It’s the one filled by someone who can’t (or won’t) do what the seat requires.

You don’t have to be ruthless. But you do have to be real. Because every misaligned player on your team is quietly training your culture in the wrong direction.

It starts with one honest question:

Would you rehire them today?

If the answer is no — you already know what needs to happen next.

Thanks for reading. If this hit a little too close to home, that’s not a bad thing.

It means you’re paying attention — and that’s what good leaders do.