Nobody Fires Too Early

TL; DR

• Because A players are many times more productive than B players, having A players in every strategic role greatly increases organizational success.

• Most leaders do not have A players throughout because replacing “pretty good" performers is unpleasant and disruptive; however, the most effective leaders make these hard decisions and do so compassionately.

• If done well, the hard work of hiring and retaining top performers in all key roles both increases performance and improves morale since staff prefer to work with outstanding colleagues.

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“Who can tell me about someone you fired too early?”

That opening question to a roomful of CEOs elicited laughter but no raised hands. None of us had fired anyone too early. All of us had done it too late.

It was the annual meeting of a group of accomplished entrepreneurs I co-chair. The speaker ran an executive coaching company with two unusual characteristics. First, its clients averaged an astonishing 40% growth rate. Second, all the consultants focused primarily on one issue: ensuring that their CEO clients had an A player in every strategic role.

These roles most often were the CEO’s direct reports. The coaches, all ex-CEOs themselves,

spent most of their time challenging their clients on whether all those reports truly were

performing extremely well. And if not, what the CEOs were going to do about it – immediately.

That sounded harsh, but it raised an uncomfortable truth for leaders who want to be both

effective and compassionate: we must balance support for our people with our

commitment to organizational success. In my experience values-driven leaders too often

give staff a break at the expense of the organization – and not because of their values, but

due to discomfort. This is one of leadership’s hardest challenges, and one where I wish my track record were better.

Is having an A player in every key role really critical? Many experts say yes. Entrepreneur

trainer Verne Harnish claims that A players are three times better than B players; Bain & Company puts the productivity ratio at 4:1. High complexity or creative jobs may show even

more difference. And there’s an impact on the team beyond individual productivity: A players attract other A players while B players may repel them.

We all love great performers, but the reality is that having A players in every important

position probably means replacing people. That’s not only unpleasant but can damage

morale. One entrepreneur told a story about a long-time employee named Marge, who had

been with him since the company’s founding. She was dedicated and well-liked, pretty good at her marketing job but no longer an A player as her role had grown, and unlikely to return to that status. “What message do I send to my staff if I fire her?” asked the CEO. “We have a tight culture and loyalty counts.”

“The message you send,” countered our speaker, “is that the company’s success matters more than the individual.”

That seemed harsh, but he was right about the message. Retaining the middling performer

sends the opposite one. Importantly, the way we handle suboptimal performance matters

tremendously. More on that below.

As CEO I hated choosing between a termination’s direct impact on an employee versus the

more diffuse benefit for the organization. But making hard choices is essential to good

leadership. It was hard for me to admit that I didn’t have an A player in every critical role

because that meant I needed to do something about it.

Some leaders let difficulty defining an A player become a reason to avoid the question. Don’t. Verne Harnish says that if you wouldn’t cry at the prospect of someone leaving, they aren't an A Player. Consultant Brad Smart defines an A candidate as having “at least a 90% probability of being in the top 10% of the talent available for a certain role at a given compensation level". For me, an A Player is someone I would hire immediately for the job without looking elsewhere because I’m so confident they are the very best. Pick your definition and run with it.

Does this mean that you should replace at least one of your current reports? For most

managers, the honest answer is yes. But prioritizing performance does not mean that you

don’t value your people or treat them well.

If someone’s performance is less than outstanding, give them the (time-limited) opportunity to grow into an A player with supportive coaching and development. Consider shifting them into a role where they can excel. When all else fails, help them transition with dignity, providing counseling and financial resources as needed. By demonstrating the importance of company success while being kind to displaced staff you model behavior for others in your organization.

Removing “pretty good” players feels harsh and disruptive. But it’s not just their output that is dramatically lower than A players’. I learned this the hard way. We had a manager who did a pretty good job with clients but was a weak supervisor. One of her direct reports was a star. She raised concerns about the manager professionally and constructively. Senior management, including me, considered this but failed to act. The star quit.

That clarified things quickly. We asked the star for a few days to reconsider. Then we made the decision we should have made earlier and let the manager go. Fortunately for us, the star reversed her resignation. We delivered for her (and the company) by recruiting an A-level leader.

It was a vivid lesson: weaker staff don’t just underperform. They drive A players away.

This experience caused me to take a hard look at my organization and make some changes. It was tough but not as bad as I feared. One weak performer asked if she could have three

months to transition to graduate school; we agreed. Another we coached into a different

company where she thrived in a more suitable job. We invested heavily in a better hiring

system, which greatly improved our proportion of A players.

To cascade this discipline throughout the company I asked my reports at our weekly 1:1

meetings (see my blog on 1:1s) if they had an A player in every critical role on their team. If not, what was their plan?

The best way for a values-driven leader to serve both an organization’s goals and its

people is to invest in hiring, coach relentlessly, and when necessary, make the hard

replacement decisions compassionately. As a CEO I didn’t always get this right, but to the

extent I did my organizations thrived and I felt like the best leader I could be.

At the end of the CEO session, the speaker asked for takeaways. The entrepreneur who had

defended his loyal employee raised his hand and said, “I may have to make a change with

Marge.”

There was no joy in it. Just a new clarity about what leadership requires.

Try this week:

• Create your definition of an A player (from this post, your own experience, or other ideas), write it down, and apply it to each of your direct reports. You’ll be more honest if you run this by a trusted colleague or mentor.

• For anyone who is not clearly an A player, imagine that you had a superstar in that role.

  What would be different in 6 months?

• For one such position, draft a plan to get to A-level performance over the next 90 days –

  whether through coaching or replacement.