Keep Or Fire?

In this episode, I talk about how you can learn more about leadership from one tough question than from a hundred motivational quotes: would you keep this employee, or fire them?

I put myself on the spot with ten rapid scenarios that every manager eventually faces, from “I’m late again” to missed deadlines, sloppy follow through, blame shifting, and even walking out early because the day’s tasks are done. My answers are direct, sometimes ruthless, but always anchored in one core belief: responsibility shows up before the problem does.

We dive into why communication is the first real performance metric. If someone flags traffic, workload, or a looming deadline risk early, the team can solve it together. But when they wait until after the damage is done, trust erodes fast. I also break down one of the toughest gray areas, personal issues, and share my approach of empathy over sympathy, making space for real life without allowing it to turn into ongoing underperformance.

Along the way, I talk about SOPs, training, and building a culture of ownership, when it is on the leader to clarify instructions, when repeated mistakes become a pattern, and why “I thought it was someone else’s job” can slowly destroy a team from within.

We close with high stakes accountability around sales goals and urgency, because if revenue does not move, the business does not either.
Listen, then share this with a manager or founder who needs a clearer standard and leave a review if it helps you lead with more confidence.
Where do you draw your line on keep vs fire?


#Leverage #Entrepreneurship #PeopleManagement #Mindset #Business #Accountability 

Transcript

Ten Hiring Scenarios Setup

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right, Anthony, I'm gonna ask you 10 questions. All right, and you're gonna choose whether you should fire the employee or keep the employee. Ready? Anthony, I'm late again. Hey, sorry. I'm in traffic. I'm late again. Traffic was insane this morning. There was an accident on a highway. I left at my normal time. It just completely threw me off, Anthony.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Fire. Why? Because as an employee and as anyone in circumstances that high-leverage business, if you communicate that beforehand, it shows me you care and it shows me that's actually happening. If you're holding on to an excuse to after the fact, then I have no room to believe it that this is actually going on. And ultimately it shows you don't care and prioritize work.

Missed Deadlines And Communication

SPEAKER_01 0:40

And the first time they do that, regardless of how long they've been here, you're firing them. First time they do that. If they come in late, yeah. Okay. Miss deadline. I know the deadline was today, Anthony. I just had a lot on my plate and I didn't want to rush, you know, um, to give you something bad. I wanted to make sure it was done right. Fire or keep?

Personal Issues Versus Performance

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Fire. Reason fire is honestly depends on a couple of circumstances, but yet again ties back to communication. You need to communicate you're falling behind prior to saying you're gonna miss a deadline. Waiting until after the fact still shows that you weren't prepped and didn't offer to reach out to get help and advice to help either push, extend that deadline, or pull from another department.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Number three, poor performance, personal issues. I'll be honest, I've been dealing with a lot outside of work lately, um, and it's been affecting my focus. I'm trying to get back on track. I'm in court fighting for my kids. I'm sorry, Anthony. Man, just performance hasn't been too good. Keep or fire?

SPEAKER_00 1:40

First time, keep, second time, fire. There we have uh ideology, which is empathy over sympathy. So the difference is I feel bad for you. I totally understand that all this is going on, but that can't affect your performance at work. And if I need to scale back, and because this is a one-time occurrence and you're normally a very good employee, we can do that no problem. But this becomes an ongoing issue where it always affects your work performance. Then I'm sorry for what's going in your life, but this isn't the right spot for you.

Instructions Misunderstood And Training

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Didn't follow instructions. I thought I understood what you wanted, but I guess I took it in a different direction. I was trying to be proactive instead of asking too many questions. I, you know, I wanted you, I wanted to handle it alone.

unknown 2:23

Fine.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

The first two times keep. And reason being it's actually the person communicating it that is at fault. So did I properly explain the instructions to that person? That's the first thing I look at. So when that happens, the first time, I address, hey, I just want to make sure you understand what's needed from you, and then I'll keep that. The second time, it could be maybe I didn't, they didn't train or know the skills to handle that kind of situation. So yet again, analyze to make sure they understand the skills and make sure it's a fluid. Third time, absolutely not, you have to let that person go.

Phone Use At Work And Standards

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Okay. Number five, on the phone dorm work. I was just checking something real quick. It wasn't anything serious. I didn't think it would be a big deal since everything was handled. Like I already did my job. Fire or keep Anthony.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Typical B player employee. And for those that know, A players will go above and beyond, B players just try to get the bare minimum to stay involved. Ultimately down the line, this is gonna be someone you're gonna let go. But I do understand that as a B player employee, you're just trying to get the bare minimum done. You're scrolling to your phone last minute because it is highly addictive. It's up to the employer to be the person to train them out of that and make sure that they fully comprehend and understand everything. But then at the end of the day, if havoc keeps happening, then if you let that person go.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Calling out last minute, I woke up not feeling great this morning, Anthony. I didn't want to risk coming in and getting anyone else sick. So I figured I'd stay home. I mean, it's just better off. What do you think, Ant? Fire or keep?

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Yet again, this is gonna depend on how many instances this happens in. Because we've all been there, we've woken up at four o'clock in the morning, really sick, and can't come into work. But yet again, it's did you follow up uh standard operating procedures? And as an employer, it's important to make sure you have these. So, a good example when a trainer calls out here, they know it's their responsibility to communicate that immediately to the managers and then to their clients to make sure the clients know that they're not coming in today and to try to find their own coverage at the best of the capability. So the first time it happens, we make sure the procedure is there, we make sure they follow the procedures, but then there is clusters where you start looking at habits. Someone does that nine times in a quarter. That ultimately you can tell is other things are going on. They're not prioritizing work, yet again ties into empathy over sympathy.

Ownership Versus Blame Culture

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Okay. Um, okay, blaming a coworker. I thought that was already taken care of by someone else. I didn't realize it was my responsibility. Because I remember you saying this was I didn't realize it was my responsibility. Because I remember you saying this was this person's job.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Out of our core values are number one is ownership. Ownership means accountability and taking responsibility for yourself to make sure that the job gets done. So at the airs on the employer to have one person as a point of contact to make to know that they own that task and the task fully falls on them. And if they keep failing at that task, yet again, go through. Did I communicate it properly? Did I teach them everything? And if that has not happened and they keep blaming other people, that's not someone you want to return. There'll eventually be a cancer to let them go.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Repeated mistakes. I know I've messed up uh on this a couple of times, but I'm still learning. I just need a little more time to get it right.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Fire or keep this is a tough one because it yet again depends on if things were properly explained to them. I would lean towards keep that employee, so I can say that, but it's making sure that I communicate everything properly. I take the operating procedure and make sure they fully understand what is expected of them inside that system. Where you want to look at it, if I gave this to a 15-year-old that had no experience and the 15-year-old was able to perform it, then I know it's on the employee. But if the person 15-year-old cannot do it, even though they have no experience, then maybe it's me not giving them the right procedures.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

When do you call it quits? Three tracks you're out is a good for you.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Not hitting sale goal or goals. Not hitting sales or goals. I mean, putting in the effort, it's been it's been slow lately. I feel like there's more more, I feel like it's more the timing in the market than what I'm doing. I really don't feel I'm responsible for the you know lack of sales or me not hitting my goals.

Leaving Early And Low Urgency

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Every successful business has become successful during recession. So when you go back looking at places like Walmart, as case in point, happened one of the biggest recessions Walmart was able to branch out. They didn't sit there and blame the economy. They found a way to leverage it to bring that up. So ultimately, that's someone you want to let go, especially when it comes to sales, because it doesn't matter how good your operating procedures are or how good your marketing is or how good everything else is. If you can't sell and have money transact, you don't have a business.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Leaving early, low urgency. I finished everything I needed to get done. So I didn't think it'd be an issue if I left a little early today.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Absolutely fire. If they understand that their job is to be there till the end of the day and they're leaving early, that's not someone I want on my team. There's almost no excuse. And I've actually fired people for just walking out of the job.

Wrap-Up And Final Tally

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Wow. All right. Well, Anthony, that's the 10 questions I have. It looks like you have, I think, probably one keep, and the rest are fire. Thank you, Anthony, for this episode.