Take Your Finger Off The Trigger
Don’t be so quick to fire people.
“I think we are going to fire these two.” A young leader said to me.
“Oh, you are. Do you have the paperwork to back that up? Why do you want to fire them?” I asked.
“I don’t think we have any write-ups but this guy, insubordination.” He pointed to his name on the schedule with a pen as he talked to me. “Okay, and the other girl?” I asked.
“She’s annoying.” He replied.
“Um, okay.” I looked up at him. “That’s not a reason to fire someone. How long has she worked here? Have you worked with her or just written her off?”
“My store manager said she’s annoying.” He told me. “When she’s given direction, she misunderstands.”
Hold up
How often do you think this happens? I think it happens all the time. People don’t want to take the time to adjust their day or their management style to accommodate someone that doesn’t get it right away. They can’t fathom taking ten minutes out of their day to have a chat with a sales associate to make them a little better at their job. A little more confident, perhaps.
I have been a leader of people in retail settings for twenty years. I’ve seen some fantastic leaders and I’ve seen some terrible ones…
