Layoffs Taught Me To Never Make 3 Powerful Leadership Mistakes
Leadership is like chess. Wrong moves can limit future flexibility
I once met a very passionate entrepreneur. She loved what she was doing and her business had the potential to help society. But I was not too hopeful about the venture.
It had too many employees. The organization didn’t have any substantial revenue yet. But they were constantly hiring. I am sure she meant well for the employees. She wanted to create jobs and make the work-family bigger. But I was uncomfortable with this approach.
I was right with my intuition. Within months, the company had to fire a large number of employees, send some on leave without pay, and delayed salary payment for the rest. Eventually, good employees found opportunities elsewhere. After a few months, the revenue became enough to support the organization. The remaining employees started getting their dues. Things started to look stable. And guess what, the organization started hiring again!
Jeff Bezos rightly said,
“If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large.”
Jason Fried, founder of 37signals also echoes that sentiment —
“There’s nothing wrong…
