How many times have we dismissed someone and afterwards felt truly at peace with ourselves? I don’t mean in an administrative sense. I don’t mean whether the decision looked justified on paper. I don’t mean whether the numbers, results, behavior, or circumstances suggested no other option.
I’m talking about the human side of things.
When it’s all over, when the doors close, when you stop being a director, manager, owner, or leader, and you’re left as just a person with your own conscience.
Maybe just once. Out of several such decisions, perhaps only once was I completely at peace. Everything else carries a certain weight.
Sometimes because you know you could have reacted sooner. Sometimes because you know you didn’t communicate clearly enough. Sometimes because you waited too long. Sometimes because you tried to save a relationship that, realistically, no longer had a solid foundation. Sometimes because you know that behind that person there’s a family, a loan, a child, a problem—a life that doesn’t stop just because you made a business decision.
That’s why I’m always a little skeptical when people discuss dismissals in a cold, confident, almost proud way, as if they’re talking about a routine matter with no further consequences. Maybe they really are that confident. I wonder if they’ve carefully considered the cost of the decision they’ve made. Because sometimes, letting someone go is necessary.
But if it ever feels easy, perhaps the problem is no longer just with the employees.
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