Letting People Go

It’s your job

Last year I wrote about ways to manage difficult people. This week a client called and said: “What if it didn’t work?” She didn’t want the situation to continue for another year. By the end of the conversation it was clear there was only one option. 

It is rare to get through a career without dismissing someone. Neither party enjoys it, yet you have a responsibility to handle it.

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Old Rules for New Start Ups

Love technology; focus on business

Ninety years ago, my father grew up in a country town in relative poverty. He left school at age 12 and got a job in a general store. That lasted til the Great Depression. The store closed and he joined the unemployed.

His next stop was a start-up. 

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Handling Difficult People

Focus on the problem, not the person

Difficult employees are hard to deal with. Some have niggling issues for which no solution seems apparent. Management is slow to react. The situation festers. The politics around it grow complicated.

In most jurisdictions there are clear-cut rules for dismissible offences. More challenging are people who are simply ‘difficult’. They may be chronically late, disrupt team efforts, indulge in excessive politics, be rude and aggressive, or passive and non-compliant.

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Shopping for change

Three simple questions

My first home was the flat above my father’s store in a  modest working class suburb. What was good about it? Everyone knew everyone; the railway station was across the road; if you wanted to buy something, it was around the corner. In short, community, connectivity and convenience.

Not much happens there now. Online shopping has eroded retail. People connect more on the net than in person. If you want to shop, the nearest mall is a better option. 

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Playing to strengths

Buy low; sell high 

Two things, very simple; makes sense. In 40 years in finance I rarely found people who were consistently good at both. The industry has a natural bent to invest rather than divest. In early years as an analyst, people asked me what to buy; few asked what to sell. 

Some were better at shorting, ie selling, but not always good at covering the short, ie buying. When natural buyers or natural sellers had to do the opposite of their strength, it was often too early or too late.

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