Have you ever hired someone and pretty early on had that lead in the pit of stomach feeling that you made a mistake?
He was very smart, well credentialed , articulate - a senior sales executive with a great story. High energy, a tremendous work ethic and he was a very enjoyable person to share a good meal, bottle of wine and discussion. I had high hopes and liked him a lot but ultimately and sadly it didn't work out.
Have you ever ignored or down played the clues that it wasn't going to work out?
He demanded a salary increase in spite of poor sales performance and expended a lot of energy both subtly and not so subtly conveying how hard and much he was working. His energy devoted to getting attention, appreciation, positive reinforcement, and accolades was way out of balance with the actual contributions made. But I really liked him and told myself that good sales people may be temperamental and I really needed to find ways to fill his bucket with appreciation and validation. I did so and also had serious conversations several times with commitments, understanding and anticipation of improvement.
Have you ever let things slide too long or procrastinated the tough conversation?
The glass is half full, presume positive intent, look for the best in people – ignore gossip and complaining. I simply didn't realize the magnitude of the dysfunction. Bad behavior escalated as he created a coalition with another employee and together they began to undermine and summarily target other leaders and employees. Blaming, criticism, whining and an environment emerged where people "walked on egg shells" to avoid the wrath of the coalition. So, he had to go and go he did. It was costly in many ways and should have happened sooner.
The rest of the story...
The manipulation and dishonesty was of far greater proportions than I realized. Company resources had been misused. Personal privacy was violated. The poor treatment of others was deeper and more pervasive than I realized. Situations where I had given the benefit of the doubt, I should not have. Long after I should have, I fired him. It wasn't pretty and the damage done in the time between when I suspected I should and when I actually did was significant. I learned that he was not as well thought of on the street as he conveyed… and for several years related stories emerged. But I really liked Him and enjoyed a good meal, a bottle of wine and great discussion.
So, was my mistake one of a rookie executive? Although I was significantly younger, I knew better and knew action needed to be taken sooner than I took it. Three friends who are seasoned senior executives have had similar situations in the past few years. Beware and learn from our mistakes.
- The cost of a bad hiring decision has a logarithmic growth to it. When your gut tells you that you have made a mistake, validate that feeling in your gut and deal with it directly and quickly.
- Presuming positive intent is important to a high performance leader but when the words and behaviors don't match, pay attention to the behaviors.
- Others look to us as leaders to deal with the problem people. Both the business and our credibility as leaders suffers when we don't.
You know in your gut what needs to be done. Do it – now. People who depend on you expect it.
