Shayne Fitz-Coy is the cofounder of Sabot Family Companies, a long-term investment company founded in 2016 in Stanford, California.
Not to sound too “kids these days,” but I find that many young managers who have made a poor decision resist revisiting that choice, even when doing so would clearly be the right move.
During a recent visit to a top business school, I provided comments and feedback to a second-year MBA seminar on whether a fictional CEO should reconsider firing a top salesperson.
As the story went, the salesperson was not only the top performer in the company but also a top performer in the industry, having delivered game-changing revenue. In doing so, however, he had committed a series of infractions against company policy on giving and receiving gifts. The violations were not malicious, and the person made some restitution each time. But in an apparent application of the three-strikes rule, the CEO had terminated the salesperson.
Culture Above Results
The class broadly agreed that the policy itself was a bit stringent and needed to be revisited. The question was whether there was a way back for the salesperson or if he was truly out.
In a show of hands, the class overwhelmingly indicated that the decision was final. Moreover, students did not budge, even when the salesperson offered to:
• Accept a demotion and pay cut.
• Be a volunteer.
• Work the dead leads.
• Enter a 60-day probationary status.
Rational minds can agree that terminating your successful whale hunter will cloud the growth outlook. Yet the students were willing to risk performance in the service of preserving a set of standards and in the name of culture. I asked why.
“Culture is the most important thing in an organization,” I heard. Well, yes, I agree. But culture is obviously not just the rules. And adherence to the rules isn’t always desirable, especially if the rules themselves are bad. Yet this cohort of future managers and VPs was willing to follow this conservative ethos and even miss their numbers for the sake of preserving the bureaucratic order.
Hiring Back
Next, we considered a scenario where the board told the CEO to reinstate the salesperson. The students did not like this. “Doesn’t this make the CEO look bad?” was the gist of their concerns. Some seemed prepared to fight the board, even while admitting that they had not prepared a Plan B so sales would not be lost.
“Would you follow the board’s guidance if they asked you to hire him back?” they asked me. Well, yes, I serve at the pleasure of the board, I chuckled. But it’s more than that. If I need to be right all the time, I’m not going to make a very good leader. Mistakes are a given. Everyone makes them. So the real question is, what do you do when you make one?
“I’ve decided to hire him back,” I offered as a simple framing of the decision and to turn the page. “We want him to continue his good work on the team.”
Light Hand
Some noise will ensue, of course. And the students were wary. “What would you tell people?” they asked. “Would you explain why you fired him and why you hired him back?” No, not really. Not everyone is entitled to every answer to how, why and when. But if a week after he is reinstated, the policy changes, I’ll bet some of them will connect the dots and figure it out.
This is so important. Managing a growing enterprise is a complex endeavor that requires both a heavy and a light hand and the good sense to know when each is needed. The CEO is paid to use those hands in service of the company’s growth plans. Her job is to be an agent of that agenda; her job is to deliver the results. She should be so lucky as to have the services of a wildly successful salesperson whose only failings are violating an overly stringent policy and being apologetic for it.
No Ego, No Gut Spilling
I understand the concern future leaders have about appearing weak. Few have managed people before, nor have they had to earn others’ professional trust and confidence in a leadership role. But there is no room for ego in the role. You have to learn to course-correct, matter-of-factly and promptly.
“Would you show your vulnerability?” they asked. I felt some whiplash from their initial desire to save face by refusing to correct a mistake to a sudden leap to embracing vulnerability once correction becomes unavoidable. No. Vulnerable is for my family and my executive coach. I let that sink in.
It is an irony of leadership that the more you try to save face, the more vulnerable you look. Seasoned leaders know that it’s not about you; it’s about the performance. It cannot be said enough: It’s not a sign of weakness to change your mind. It is if you refuse to do so even when you should.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Read the full article here
