Big Red Car here. The Boss is still skiing in SBS but the season ends on Saturday. Come home, Boss. We miss ya!
[Not really because the Big Red Car and the house sitter are having a bang up time. It’s Spring in Texas and the azaleas and bluebonnets are in bloom. Life is good in the ATX.]
A good CEO is always hiring. Always. Always scouting for and recruiting talent to the enterprise.
When a company is really good, the talent is recruiting the company to hire them even when there are no apparent openings.
OK, Big Red Car, I think everyone gets that stuff .
Firing is hiring
Firing is part of hiring. When talent does not work out — for any reason — it is necessary to hire or promote a replacement. That means you have to fire the incumbent to provide room for the newly hired talent. Make sense?
In that way, many times the act of firing someone is the first step in hiring.
Firing is hiring!
Firing does not improve with time
When your first inkling surfaces that someone requires firing, it will not improve with the passage of time. Take some comfort that folks often fire themselves by failing to accomplish objectives you have clearly set before them.
The necessity to fire someone or the failure to fire someone may often be destructive to the company.
A lot of folks will be looking at the recent “resignation” of Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius as an example of a long overdue firing. The Big Red Car thinks the President’s reluctance to fire her immediately opened him to charges of incompetence but perhaps more importantly the cure could not really be applied while there was still heat in that seat.
You have to get rid of the poison quickly. If the incumbent needs firing. Do. It. Now. It will not get better with time and the damage done during the procrastination period may make the challenge even greater while exposing the CEO to fair allegations of incompetence.
Delayed firing is cowardice
When you fail to deliver the bad news that you know is coming, the organization may be thrown into Neutral.
When you take the decisive action to fix things, the organization may generate some new found energy as the problem is being treated with a bit of courage.
Not to take immediate action is cowardice
The Big Red Car counsels firing even if the position has to be left open and a temporary solution has to be embraced. It is a two step process — like the Texas Two Step, ya’ll — and the first one does not have to wait for the second one to be tee-ed up.
If you know you are going to fire someone, do it now even if you are faced with a temporary solution in its wake. I promise this is the right solution for the enterprise.
Think about this and embrace the simple notion of hiring slowly and firing quickly.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. Be kind to yourself. Call someone this weekend who misses you. Tell someone tonight you love them — but not some else’s girlfriend [Pro Tip].
