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“What took you so long?”
Every single time I’ve fired someone as CEO, someone on my team has asked me that question. Every. Single. Time.
And, there’s a good reason I was asked that question. You see..
You, the CEO, almost always wait too long to fire someone.
For example, I realized, about two months after we became operational, that “Randy,” one of my co-founders, wasn’t going to make it. He was causing too many problems, and he was pissing too many people off.
Yet, there he was, still wreaking havoc, still working with us three months later. That’s when I finally fired him.
So Randy lasted five months, and my regret was that I didn’t fire him a few months earlier.
The same thing happened again seven months later with “Ken,” one of my other co-founders. I knew Ken was struggling three months after we became operational.
Yet, there I was nine months later, trying to find a way to save Ken and get him motivated. Nothing seemed to work. In desperation, I had lunch with Ken and I pushed him really hard, knowing he might quit.
The next day, Ken quit. Again, I regretted not taking action months sooner.
