/ceos-people

name: ceos-people
description: Use when evaluating team members — Core Values alignment and GWC (right people, right seats)
file-access: [data/people/, templates/people-analyzer.md, data/vision.md, data/accountability.md]
tools-used: [Read, Write, Glob]

ceos-people

Evaluate whether team members are the right people (Core Values alignment) in the right seats (GWC: Get it, Want it, Capacity to do it). Manage people evaluations, run quarterly reviews, and flag below-the-bar situations for action.

When to Use

• "Evaluate [person]" or "run the people analyzer for [name]"
• "Are we right people, right seats?" or "show our people evaluations"
• "Quarterly people review" or "let's review the team"
• "Is [person] in the right seat?" or "GWC check on [name]"
• "Who's below the bar?" or "show below-bar team members"
• Any discussion about team fit, Core Values alignment, or seat assignment

Context

Finding the CEOS Repository

Search upward from the current directory for the `.ceos` marker file. This file marks the root of the CEOS repository.

If `.ceos` is not found, stop and tell the user: "Not in a CEOS repository. Clone your CEOS repo and run setup.sh first."

**Sync before use:** Once you find the CEOS root, run `git -C <ceos_root> pull --ff-only --quiet 2>/dev/null` to get the latest data from teammates. If it fails (conflict or offline), continue silently with local data.

Key Files

| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | `data/people/` | Person evaluation files (one per person) | | `data/people/alumni/` | Departed team members (historical reference) | | `data/vision.md` | Source of Core Values (read-only — use ceos-vto to modify) | | `data/accountability.md` | Source of seats and owners (reference for GWC) | | `templates/people-analyzer.md` | Template for new person evaluations |

Person File Format

Each person is a markdown file at `data/people/firstname-lastname.md` with YAML frontmatter:

name: "Brad Feld"
seat: "Visionary"
core_values:
  # Each Core Value from vision.md, rated +, +/-, or -
status: right_person_right_seat  # right_person_right_seat | below_bar | wrong_seat | evaluating
gwc:
  get: true       # true | false | null
  want: true
  capacity: true
last_evaluated: "2026-01-15"
created: "2026-01-02"
departed: false

**File naming:** `firstname-lastname.md` — lowercase, hyphenated. Person-centric (survives role changes).

Status Values

| Status | Meaning | When | |--------|---------|------| | `right_person_right_seat` | Passes both Core Values and GWC | All Core Values are + or mostly +, all GWC = true | | `below_bar` | Fails Core Values OR GWC | Three strikes on values, or any GWC = false | | `wrong_seat` | Right person, wrong seat | Core Values pass but GWC fails for current seat | | `evaluating` | Not yet assessed | New hire (< 90 days) or incomplete evaluation |

Core Values Rating

| Rating | Meaning | |--------|---------| | `+` | Lives this value most of the time | | `+/-` | Sometimes demonstrates, sometimes doesn't | | `-` | Rarely or never demonstrates this value |

**Three strikes rule:** Three or more `+/-` or `-` ratings = "wrong person" (Core Values misalignment). This is a critical flag that requires action.

GWC Dimensions

| Dimension | Question | Notes | |-----------|----------|-------| | **Get it** | Do they truly understand the role? | Intuitive grasp of the job, culture, systems | | **Want it** | Do they genuinely want the work? | Not just title/pay — the actual daily work | | **Capacity** | Can they do it? | Time, skill, knowledge, emotional capacity |

All three must be **true** for "right seat." Any single **false** = wrong seat.

Process

Mode: Evaluate

Use when evaluating a specific person against Core Values and GWC.

Step 1: Identify the Person

Ask for the person's name. Check if `data/people/firstname-lastname.md` already exists.

• **Exists:** Read the file, show current evaluation, ask: "Re-evaluate or update notes?"
• **New person:** Create from `templates/people-analyzer.md`

Step 2: Core Values Evaluation

Read Core Values from `data/vision.md`. For each Core Value, ask the user to rate: `+`, `+/-`, or `-`.

Display a rating table as you go:

Core Values Evaluation — [Person Name]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

| Core Value    | Rating | Notes           |
|---------------|--------|-----------------|
| Integrity     | +      | Consistently    |
| Innovation    | +/-    | Room to grow    |
| Transparency  | +      |                 |
| Grit          | -      | Avoids hard work|

Step 3: Three Strikes Detection

After all Core Values are rated, count `+/-` and `-` ratings:

• **3+ negative ratings (`+/-` or `-`):** Flag immediately:

  ⚠️  THREE STRIKES — Core Values misalignment detected.
  [Person] has 3+ values rated +/- or -. This signals "wrong person."
  Action required: coaching conversation, role change, or exit plan.

• **1-2 negative ratings:** Note but continue: "Some values need attention. Continue to GWC."
• **All `+`:** "Strong Core Values alignment. Right person."

Determine **right_person**: All or mostly `+` ratings = yes. Three strikes = no.

Step 4: GWC Evaluation

Read the person's current seat from `data/accountability.md`. If the person owns multiple seats, evaluate GWC for each seat separately.

For each seat, ask three binary questions:

1. **Get it?** Does [person] truly understand the [seat] role? (yes/no) 2. **Want it?** Does [person] genuinely want to do [seat] work? (yes/no) 3. **Capacity?** Does [person] have the capacity to excel at [seat]? (yes/no)

Display the result:

GWC — [Person Name] as [Seat Name]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Get it:     ✓ Yes
Want it:    ✓ Yes
Capacity:   ✗ No — struggling with volume

Right seat? No (Capacity gap)

Determine **right_seat**: All three must be **true**. Any **false** = wrong seat.

Step 5: Suggest Status

Based on the evaluation:

| Core Values