Dear Reader,
There is one topic that comes up in conversations with CEOs more consistently than almost anything else.
People.
Do I have the right leadership team?
How long should I give someone to succeed?
Am I expecting too much?
Or am I avoiding a decision I already know I need to make?
Over the years, I made plenty of hiring decisions I was proud of. I also made some that didn't work.
But one of the biggest lessons for me wasn't about how to avoid making a bad hire.
It was about what you do when you begin to suspect someone isn't the right fit.
This is the first of two emails on hiring and building teams. This week, I'm focusing on some of the difficult decisions once someone is in the organisation. In the next, I'll look at how we hire in the first place, and some of the things I think we could do differently.
How do you know when you've given someone enough time?
One of the most expensive decisions I made as a CEO wasn't hiring the wrong person.
It was waiting too long to accept they weren't the right fit.
When you've invested months recruiting someone, it is incredibly easy to keep hoping.
Perhaps they need more time. Clearer expectations. Better support. More coaching.
And sometimes they do.
But sometimes, if you're really honest with yourself, you already know.
I often held back because I thought giving someone more time was the compassionate thing to do.
The irony is that waiting rarely made things easier. Teams compensated. Confidence eroded. And the individual spent longer struggling in a role where they weren't thriving.
That doesn't mean we should move quickly to let people go. Leaders have a responsibility to provide clear expectations, honest feedback, support and a genuine opportunity to succeed.
But I have found myself coming back to this question:
Am I giving this person more time because I genuinely believe they can succeed, or because making the decision feels too hard?
Those are very different things.
Sometimes clarity is the kinder choice.
Would you fight to keep them?
This brings me to another question I find useful.
Reed Hastings, Netflix's co founder and long time CEO, popularised the Keeper Test, one of the best known elements of Netflix's leadership culture.
The idea is simple.
Imagine if someone on your team told you they were leaving, would you fight hard to keep them?
If the answer is no, Netflix's philosophy suggests you should question whether they should still be on the team.
I've always found the question useful but also uncomfortable.
It cuts through many of the reasons we hold on to people.
They've been here for years. They're well liked. They work incredibly hard. They know the organisation inside out. Replacing them would be difficult.
But none of those necessarily answers the more important question:
Are they the person we need in this role for where the organisation is going next?
I wouldn't apply the Keeper Test as literally as Netflix historically has.
A “no” doesn't automatically mean someone should leave. The role might be wrong. Their strengths might be badly used. Expectations may not have been clear. They might need support to step up.
But it should prompt a conversation.
And I sometimes use an even harder version:
If this role were vacant today, knowing everything I now know, would I enthusiastically hire this person into it again?
If the answer is no, it is worth understanding why.
You won't always get it right
I wish I could say that after years of leading teams, I always knew when to keep investing and when to make a change.
I didn't.
And it is a judgement I am still learning about now as I support other CEOs facing exactly the same decisions.
Perhaps that's the bigger lesson.
Good leadership isn't about never getting people decisions wrong. It is about being willing to look clearly at what isn't working, learn from it and act.
Next week, I'll look at the other side of this: how we hire, why I think organisations sometimes make recruitment unnecessarily complicated, and why a resignation can be an opportunity to redesign rather than simply replace a role.
Until then, one question to take back to your own leadership team:
If every role were vacant today, who would you enthusiastically hire again?
Warmly,
Liz
Strategic Advisor | Former CEO | Founder, Volante
Based in Kenya, available globally
