Interesting chat this week.
To an open question about leadership problems that drain energy and drag on team performance, the reply came back:
“Generally, I find it’s staff who do that — I fire them and get better people.”
I bet he feels pretty good about that line. Sounds great around his mates — “Yeah, mate, people underperform, I just fire ’em and find ones that do. Simple.”
Now, sometimes people genuinely aren’t right for the role. No shame in that, for anyone. Parting ways with clarity and respect is often the right call.
But generally? If your default diagnostic is “bad staff,” you may be skipping a step.
A leader who fires their way through the same recurring problem, trailing a succession of “bad fits” — without once looking in the mirror — might just be missing something important.
Socrates called it the second ignorance — not knowing what you don’t know. It’s arguably the most dangerous condition a leader can carry into a room.
The best leaders I’ve worked with are ferociously curious about the full range of factors contributing to a problem — including their own.
I’ve had many middle and senior managers tell me: “My boss really needs to do this program.”
Don’t be that guy.