The first time I had to fire someone, I dragged my feet.

I avoided an uncomfortable decision. I agonized over whether I had done enough, if they needed a mental health or drug treatment leave of absence, if it was fair to them.

What I failed to consider? My team. I was so focused on being seen as the “bad guy,” that I missed all the ways their deteriorating behavior was undermining the quality, pace and culture of the whole department.

But worst of all, I let a woman in their shadow carry the burden alone.
As soon as they were gone, she came to me with a plan to address a whole host of challenges we were facing. She had finally been freed from tiptoeing around them, and I realized she’d been doing their job this whole time, underpaid and under-appreciated.

Now, I’m a Mama Bear when it comes to my teams and my clients - meet them where they are, give them the chance to succeed, and provide clear and frequent feedback on what needs to change.

Related Resources

Don’t Wait Until Something Bad Happens

I love the collaboration and energy of founding teams. Roles are fluid and change frequently, problem-solving is a group activity and everyone is a part of everything.

You may want to hold on to that early innovation and camaraderie and fear that formal processes will “kill the culture,” but don’t wait too long to put some basic HR practices in place.

The biggest risk to your culture is actually human nature and time. Because it is only a matter of when - not if - someone will disengage, resent another teammate’s success or start hiding things that aren’t going as well as they’d hoped. Everyone comes with baggage and you need a fair and constructive way to address them before they snowball.

And if your boss puts new performance management tools in place? See it as an opportunity to represent your value, raise concerns and grow.