Don't be Scared

As I've explained earlier, I've worked with world-class entrepreneurs for over 20 years and have learned that they share many common traits. Among these traits is a sense of fearlessness. These people are decisive, don't dilly-dally around a decision, and know that as long as they are doing the right thing, they have nothing to fear. A lot more of this kind of thinking should be introduced to corporate HR leaders, in my opinion. In my experience, HR departments spend too much of their time living in fear; of doing the wrong thing and getting sued, of taking a stance on an issue, of weeding out underperforming employees in a timely manner--the list goes on and on. The most successful people in business do not live in fear; they take action.

Earlier this year, I paid a visit to our Orange County, California office, and made a point to have a brief conversation with the couple dozen employees, just to see how things were going. In very short order a pattern of comments emerged that the place was in an uproar over a new supervisor who was overly autocratic, and bombastic (likely from being new and insecure). Now, this office was very important and we had spent a lot of time and money putting together this group, and simply couldn't have 90% of the employees pissed off over one junior manager. I consulted with the group VP and even the CEO, and shared my concern that the whole office was at risk because of this one person. The VP was terrified of being sued because the California culture was so litigious, but they backed me up, and we terminated the employee the next morning. We didn't go into specifics in that meeting; simply said we had to part ways, and offered her 3 weeks severance if she signed our catch-all release. If she chose not to sign, she'd get her accrued PTO and nothing more. She signed and that was that. My point is that situation could have dragged on for months without resolution. That can be acceptable in a big, slow eneterprise, but not in any organization that needs to move fast, and wants a culture of merit-based recognition.

Next time you know something should be done about a particular situation, take it to your boss, explain that you know there may be some risk to the decision, but that it's in the best interests of the company. Your boss will likely back you and, more importantly, will respect you more for your leadership stance. If he doesn't, and instead is the type of executive who lives in fear of being sued, or rocking the boat, you're probably at the wrong company.