The time to fire someone is the first time you think about it
I once made friends with an oil zillionaire on holiday in Bali.
I was on my first date with Tahitian, Maire (pronounced May-ree), who I met after running my catamaran onto a reef down there and having to learn French pretty pronto. (It’s French Polynesia of course.) I was in love and in a pretty magnanimous state of mind.
He was a down-to-earth guy, a thinker, and I was drawn to him, and when we started talking about our enterprises he told me that “The time to fire someone is the first time you think about it.”
I remember being shocked.
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His point was that generally people don’t change and by firing them you create a position for someone else. But do you have to be hard as nails and fire people in a flash? Or is it your job to be supportive, kind and generous in all things?
Both, I’d say and I judge not. But I’d rather hang around with those with a generous soul and I daresay they are happier.
I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me
Steve Jobs
In a war you have to make hard decisions and I can be tough when my back is against the wall or, I admit, when there is a kill to be made. But in peacetime magnanimous gestures go a long way to building loyalty and trust. Some might say otherwise, but I claim to be on the over-kind and generous end, wanting to be appreciated too much.