A few months ago, we worked with a company that had all the right ingredients – great people, plentiful clients, and a team that genuinely cared.
But they couldn’t seem to grow beyond a certain point:
- Staff didn’t trust ownership.
- Profit margins were razor-thin.
- Quality control was slipping.
- And tension lingered just beneath the surface.
When we dug in, the issue wasn’t effort or talent.
It was alignment.
The CEO:
The CEO was brilliant and creative – a daydreamer who could light up a room – but he spoke before thinking, hated details, and changed business direction every six months.
Every year there was a new guru, a new system, a new “savior.” Every year they started a new business line that didn’t align with their core strengths. And every year this “shiny object” they were chasing failed.
The result?
Whiplash.
Employees had no idea of the company’s true goals, direction, or how success was measured.
The Co-Founder:
The Co-Founder, acting as production manager, was the opposite: tactical, a natural born problem solver, client-facing, and constantly in firefighting mode. His phone rang 50 times during team meetings with clients asking for “their guy.” He equated activity with productivity. He was kind, capable, and well-liked – but leadership wasn’t in his wheelhouse. Is it logical to have an overall, company wide production manager who can’t’ sit still long enough to listen to the other players in the room?
The Lead PM:
The Lead PM was the co-founders “right hand man.” He was supposed to lead and manage all of the project work the co-founder landed (which was substantial). The issues – he was inherently disorganized, had disdain for leading people, and tried to prove he was the smartest person in the room on every topic.
Is it possible to lead people and manage projects if you are scattered and unorganized?
Can you lead people when your goal is simply to outshine (belittle) them all?
The BUM:
The Business Unit Manager was amazing with people. His EQ was off the charts. However – he was not a PE and completely untechnical in his skill set. And not surprisingly – almost every project came with write-offs (errors).
The Question:
Is it possible to lead a team when you are not technically skilled enough to lead the work?
All four of these examples are exceptional people. They just weren’t in roles that matched their strengths.
That’s where the breakdown began. The business never defined what skill sets were required in each key role. And when people lack the skills needed to thrive, they need one of two things:
1️⃣ – Support – breaking each role into smaller, strength-based buckets, and
2️⃣ – Realignment – restructuring the organization so the right people sit in the right seats.
This is one of the biggest mistakes we see across the GPS universe: companies putting people into roles without understanding the strengths needed to succeed.
The result is frustration, turnover, and stalled growth.
At GPS, we believe every member has a unique superpower. The key is identifying it – then aligning each person’s role with what they do best:
- Do you have unorganized project managers?
- Client managers who avoid confrontation?
- Leaders who overthink instead of execute?
- Business Unit Managers who aren’t strong technically?
If so, it’s not a “people” problem. It’s an “alignment” problem.
The greatest organizations don’t force square pegs into round holes. They design environments where every member operates in their zone of genius.
Because when the right people are in the right roles, everything changes – execution tightens, culture strengthens, and growth finally feels effortless.
Proper alignment isn’t just a nice-to-have.
It’s the difference between good and great.