When I was in High School, we had a very talented but laissez-faire music teacher; he let people play the parts they wanted based on seniority. This made for a pretty bad band.

In my senior year, a new 25 year old music director took over. He was committed to improving the state of play. His first move- audition everyone and re-arrange the chairs.

This made a lot of people unhappy, but just those who weren’t the best. The younger more ambitious players moved up and the less talented moved down. Grumbling yes, but a better band, for sure.

Most managers deal with seniority the same way. The longer the tenure, the more senior the position. I have rarely seen any get demoted, but not focusing on performance stunts the growth of the better team members and they eventually decide to leave. You’re stuck with the 3rd chair player in 1st chair.

Be hyper focused on performance. You wouldn’t pay to go see a 3rd chair performance, and your customers won’t pay for your 3rd chair product.