How to Know When It’s Time to Fire Somebody (with NBA Hall of Famer, David Robinson)
Audio Transcription
NBA Hall of Fame Basketball Player turned entrepreneur David Robinson breaks down how to know when it is time to fire someone.
Welcome back to the conversation is the thrive time business coach show on your radio during today’s business coach podcast weave a very special opportunity to sit down special opportunity to sit down with the man who was an nba hall of famer david robinson, a guy who was named as one of the 50 best basketball players of his generation of all time. Actually, a man who won two gold medals, while playing in representing his country I’m a guy who’s gone on to have actually more success off the court. Then he had on. How can you possibly have more success off the court than on the court when you want to gold medals and two nba championships? Well, that’s what david robinson has done in during today’s podcast during the during his interview with david I asked him. How do you deal with people that refuse to follow the system? How do you deal with people like dennis, rodman, dennis rodman, go to dobie dennis rodman, the guy, who is a friend of kim jeong hoon of the guy who is hanging out with a north korean dictator. We played basketball on the same team as dennis rodman. So how do you possibly deal with a person like dennis rodman? How do you deal with? How do you hold people accountable? What, if you have to fire somebody? You know what to do with a business and people just refuse to follow your system. That is the focus of this interview with the incredible vida gifted the charismatic, the high character, the diligent the the family focused man that the friend the partner that I know as david robinson fire employees who corrupt the culture absolute eventually you’re, going to have a guy on the team who just says:hey i, appreciate that you’ve laid out specifically, you know what year your mission here, I appreciate that you have disciplinary policies and play, but I am just going to continue to be crazy, ghetto, crate, I’m, going to just be as crazy as a certain business coach point. David up your business people they’re going to have to fire. Somebody and I see this all the time. I talk to a guy the other day, who’s late, late, 30s to it Said:i’ve never fired employee. His business has grown ever though okay and he was want to bring me as a consultant tonight. I’m just add it assessment. I talk to some of the keys from the boys. I said:hey will culture issue here right, you have people that are in the back when customers are in the front nobody’s even in the building on lunch, you have calls, aren’t getting returned. It’s just a cultural issue. You’re the head, you’re going to be serious about it. I want to know what steps you take any sleep, while this person just has refused to do anything, I’ve, worn them I’ve learned to ignore them till we get to that point where we have to fire. Nobody wants to do it, but I want to know how do you know when it’s time to fire somebody? That’s clearly, it depends on it, and you know, situation and and and person I like to try to give people is as much a benefit of the doubt as possible and that’s a personal thing. Some people like are no nonsense.
They don’t wait on. You want to deal with first sign of trouble and they get rid of people and that’s fine. It really has to do with your personality. If you are a patient person, that’s fantastic give people the benefit of the doubt, but I understand also that we go back to mission we go back to. What are we trying to accomplish? Is this working for our organization and and and that’s why all of this structure is so important people people really want to sit around and take the time out to write all of these things out and and make sure that there’s expectations and make sure that there’s consequences and make sure that their steps, but but these things help you make these decisions when we reached at 3 it’s time to let somebody go and so I think it’s really key here to have the leadership team in place, which equates the culture making sure that they understand. You know what the expectations are and then the steps and then it’s easy to the say, ok it’s time and we can make it very clear to the person because you don’t fit our culture, you don’t fit what’s happening here. Our experiment has not been successful. Want to win. You want on the court which a lot of players. Don’t don’t do you want to championships? You won gold medals. I mean you see you want, and then we say what we know and I’m asking for 10. If you’re the sawed-off version a smaller version. It’s a six foot, one version david robinson I would argue that you would be successful in any field because of some of the principles that you live by. But then you win and you started the school experience having started school and the school is done done when you’ve been blessed and in in your winning in those areas, and so I just want to know. Did it break your heart when you had to fire the first employee over there at carver, did you ever have to hire somebody did? Was it hard for you, cuz you’re, at your business coach guy? Who cares the people we’ve had to fire people? Stuff. It does a little bit when I make it clear what I’m expecting. Then it’s not a personal issue and i. Let people know that hey you just don’t work here. That doesn’t mean you don’t work. You know you have to work somewhere else. You just don’t work here and so I’ve always tried to focus on the positive things about, even even when I had to let someone go through it.
It’s failure, something we all experience way:you’re going to grow, wright trials and tribulations it without those things you have no opportunity to grow whatsoever, and so I look at those times as more of a positive time and saying hey. This is my opportunity to let them know if this is a. This is something you need to learn from okay, so this didn’t work. I’ll tell you why I didn’t work here now you can take that and listen and learn move on or you can fight it and deny it and say it. You know it’s your fault, it’s your fault! It’s your fault! Okay! I’ll! Accept that my fault, but it didn’t work. I have the ability to move you a hundred on moving i. Think if we can understand that it even for the person that’s being fired, it can be a really positive experience that they need to know something’s wrong, or else they can’t fix it. So you just don’t work here. You just don’t you’re a great worker just not here
