I love to eat oranges. And that’s why I never think twice about buying them by the bagful. Just a few weeks ago I picked up another bag of fresh oranges. Upon getting home, I quickly downed a couple and threw the remaining bag into the pantry.

The next morning I kissed my wife goodbye, drove to the airport and left on a four-day business trip. When I returned, I opened the pantry door and was hit with the overwhelming stench of mold. I wondered, “What the heck is moldy? Is it bread? What’s in here?” Picking up the bag of oranges, I noticed that most had turned a sickening shade of green. I quickly closed the bag up and threw them away.

For a company to be successful, they’ve got to have great people on their team. Great people are people who fit seamlessly into your culture, they share your core values, and they’re very talented for their role in the business. Once they were hired in and brought up to speed, everything felt great.

Then one day something changed. You can’t put your finger on the exact moment, but suddenly they don’t feel as great as they once did in that position. This feeling is subtly nagging in the back of your mind, but you’ve got too many other things going on at the moment to address it.

When working with our leadership teams, we spend a lot of time strengthening the People Component of their business. We work on the two disciplines: getting the Right People into the Right Seats on the Accountability Chart™. You must have both – Right People and Right Seats.

I have helped a number of leadership teams make the difficult people decision when they determine one of their employees is either the wrong person or in the wrong seat. Our approach to this issue is the Three Strike Rule.

“The Peter Principle” is a term coined by Laurence J. Peter in 1969 to describe the recurring phenomenon of employees being promoted to – and often beyond – their highest level of competence. While hilariously illustrated in the comic strip Dilbert, both versions of the television show The Office, and the movie Office Space – the consequences for a small, entrepreneurial company aren’t funny at all.

“I really want the promotion. I’d love to take on that manager position,” Fred says enthusiastically. Fred has been on your team for several years now and he knows your business well. He’s proven himself to be reliable and professional.

But why does he want the position? His enthusiasm reminds you of a kid in a candy store repeating I want it, I want it! But just like that kid in the candy store, does he actually want it? Is he about to bite off more than he can chew?