By Anonymous
In celebration of Did I REALLY Sign Up For This?! hitting shelves, we’ve invited members of The Roundtable community to share their own “did I really sign up for this?!” moments, which we’ll be sharing over the coming weeks. These are times when things have gone to sh*t (been there!), when they’ve thought that perhaps they aren’t cut out to be a leader (ditto!). This one is so juicy the author even requested to remain anonymous! We hope you’ll enjoy the candour and vulnerability shown by these amazing leaders.
Without a doubt, whenever I’ve had to terminate someone, I’ve questioned whether I was cut out for being a leader. It’s one of the hardest things to do.
One particular situation stands out for me. I had hired a senior consultant who brought a lot of knowledge and experience to a specific client project. We desperately needed someone senior to interface with the client, contribute to the work, and manage other team members assigned to the project.
A few weeks later, I received a call from my client who shared a disturbing story with me. When the senior consultant went to conduct interviews at one of their regional offices, he had gotten into a verbal altercation with the parking lot attendant. The client, as well as the executives at the regional office, were understandably upset and I was mortified.
I confronted the senior consultant and he defended his behaviour with a lengthy explanation of the situation. I was dumbfounded. Clearly the parking lot attendant had just been doing his job. I was angry and felt paralyzed. If I terminated this person, I had no one to fill the role and didn’t have the capacity to take on the work myself. Unfortunately, I let my need to have someone lead this project take precedence over my better judgment—which was to terminate this person immediately.
A few weeks later, I found myself still frustrated with the situation and I came to the realization that by keeping this individual on our team I was condoning behaviour that was not acceptable to me or the organization. I finally had the right (difficult) conversation with the senior consultant and we both agreed that it was best to part ways. I still regret that I tolerated this behaviour and did not make the decision faster.
Trust your gut. Don’t tolerate bad behavior—even from smart, senior people.
Want to share your own “did I REALLY sign up for this?!” moment? Email us here. Don’t have your own copy of Did I REALLY Sign Up For This?! yet? Head over here to grab one!
