Right People, Right Seats: Why Courageous People Moves Are the Fastest Route to Your Vision (and What Happens If You Wait)
You know exactly who they are. The team member who's been coasting for months. The department head who's lost their spark. The high performer who's completely misaligned with your company values. You’ve been thinking about making a move for weeks—maybe months—but you keep putting it off.
Here’s the hard truth: Every day you delay making that crucial people decision is another day further from your vision. And it’s not just about time—it’s about the compound effect of having the wrong people in the wrong seats, slowly but steadily derailing everything you’re working toward.
EOS gives you the clarity to see what needs to happen. But clarity without courage is just expensive consulting.
The Real Cost of the Wrong People in the Wrong Seats
Let’s get specific about what “wrong people, wrong seats” actually costs your business—because it’s way more than you think.
When you have the wrong people on your team, every leadership meeting becomes damage control. You’re not talking about growth strategies or innovation; you’re talking about fixing problems, managing personalities, and working around limitations. Your vision meetings turn into therapy sessions.
When you have good people in the wrong seats, you’re watching talent waste away while critical functions suffer. That amazing salesperson struggling in operations isn’t just underperforming—they’re also blocking the seat from someone who could excel there.
The research is clear. Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” showed that transformational leaders got the right people on the bus first, then figured out where to drive it. If you start with “who” rather than “what,” you can adapt to anything the market throws at you.
But here’s what Collins didn’t emphasize enough: This only works if you have the courage to make the moves.
Why Your Vision Will Take Longer (Or Never Happen)
Think about your 10-year vision. Picture where you want your company to be. Now ask yourself honestly: Can you get there with your current team exactly as it is today?
If the answer is no (and for most of us, it is), then every day you avoid making people changes is another day added to your timeline. Here’s why:
The Momentum Killer
Wrong people don’t just underperform—they actively slow down everyone around them. Your A-players question why they’re working so hard when others aren’t held to the same standard. Your culture becomes “good enough” instead of excellent.
The Vision Erosion
When people aren’t aligned with your core values, they make decisions that slowly erode what you’re building. Your vision becomes blurry because it’s filtered through people who don’t share it.
The Opportunity Cost
Every seat occupied by the wrong person is a seat that can’t be filled by the right person. Every day, high-potential employees look elsewhere because they don’t see excellence in your organization.
The Courage Gap: Where Most Leaders Get Stuck
EOS shows you exactly what needs to happen: the People Analyzer makes it crystal clear who your right people are and whether they’re in the right seats. You’ve got the Accountability Chart showing you the perfect org structure. You’ve identified your core values and can see who lives them and who doesn’t.
The tools work. The clarity is there. But the hard part? Actually making the moves.
This is the Courage Gap: the space between knowing what needs to be done and actually doing it.
Why We Avoid the Hard Conversations
Fear of confrontation
Worry about team reaction
Concern about short-term disruption
Hope for improvement
Guilt—they’re a good person who’s trying
All valid—but also excuses. And they’re costing you your vision.
The Pain of Waiting Always Exceeds the Pain of Acting
Here’s a leadership principle: The pain of making a tough people move today is always less than the pain of waiting until tomorrow.
Because people problems compound. That underperformer you’re hoping will improve? Every month you wait:
The problem gets bigger
The impact on your team gets worse
The disruption of change grows
Your vision gets further away
Your own confidence erodes
Meanwhile, your competitors are pulling ahead.
How EOS Gives You the Framework for Courageous Action
EOS gives you repeatable processes for people decisions:
People Analyzer: Removes emotion and brings clarity
GWC (Get it, Want it, Capacity): Immediate clarity on fit
Accountability Chart: Shows exactly what seat needs filling
EOS makes the people decisions obvious. Your job is to make them quickly.
EOS makes the people decisions obvious. Your job is to make them quickly.
The Courage Accelerator: Start with One Move
Pick the people decision you’ve been avoiding the longest. That’s your courageous first step!
Use your EOS tools to confirm
Set a real deadline (two weeks)
Plan with your leadership team
Have the conversation (compassionate, clear)
Execute quickly and professionally
Courage builds on itself. Make one tough decision, and the next becomes easier. Your A-players will notice.
Your Vision is Waiting for Your Courage
Your 10-year vision won’t happen without the right people in the right seats. EOS gives clarity and tools—your job is courage and action.
Stop waiting. Stop hoping. Your vision is calling, and it needs the right people in the right seats to answer.
Ready to close the Courage Gap? Your future self—and your future company—will thank you.
