The Most Important Lesson I Learned From The First Time I Fired Someone

Reflections of a CEO

When I first started my agency Jakt back in 2012, I didn’t know what I was doing.

Sure, I could code and take care of the production work, but the business side of things?

I was figuring that out as it came.

NYU taught me about many things... but running a profitable agency wasn’t one of them.

And in 2015, I realized it didn’t prepare me to fire someone either.

To this day, I can admit it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

I actually talked myself out of making the decision -- even when I believed it was the best for the business -- for a whopping SIX months before I finally sat down and took action.

If you’re struggling with that right now…

Or you’ve already fired someone, and you’d like to know another’s POV and experience...

This is for you.

I’ll touch on…

- Why I made the decision to let this employee go (3:03)

- The reasons why I talked myself out of it for so long (4:22)

- What helped me get through my mental barriers and stories to take action (7:42)

- The lesson I learned from that experience (13:10)

- Why you’re doing people a disservice if you don’t fire them quickly (13:49)