|
|
Dalton
Roberts |
|
|
|
Last year I got a Christmas card from a former co-worker with a note, “Thanks for not firing me when you probably should have.” It brought the whole situation vividly to mind and I asked myself again if I made the right decision. I think I did. He has proven himself worthy of being saved but the real reason I think it was right to not fire him was that his mistake mainly damaged my political ego and no one should ever be fired for ego damage alone. He definitely made a mistake. It definitely embarrassed me. It made me look inept to other politicians. When I carefully took it apart and looked at all the pieces, I was certain his motivation was not to create a problem for me. If you made a mistake, wouldn’t you want your supervisor to look at your motivation? Believe me, if you are ever fired you will think several times before you fire another person. It is always a damaging experience. If you respond to it creatively, you may grow a lot but you can always look back and see where it damaged you at the time. Actually, my firing may have saved the guy who wrote me the note. I think I was fired because I had damaged an ego and I decided if I ever fired someone it would not be to protect my own ego. Once you are fired, you will know what being fired does to a person’s sense of self-worth. I had received top ratings in every job I had held up until the time I was fired. You would think that would keep my self-worth intact. It did not. The emotional damage occurs even when you know you were unjustly fired. For one thing, people treat you differently. I had probably hired a thousand people in previous jobs and thought one of them would help me find another job. They didn’t. I had helped elect at least a dozen political co-workers and only one of them tried to help. People are reluctant about sweeping you up and putting you back together when you get splattered. So before firing someone, we should think of how it can damage his or her employability. I remember one job that paid about 2/3 what my last salary had been. I knew I could do the job and was beginning to feel desperate so I almost begged them to hire me. They said I had made more money in the past and they felt certain I would not be happy. My entreaties were in vain and I had to go back to hustling up another job prospect. When you are thinking of firing someone, realize the impact it will have on his or her family. I had to cash out my insurance policies and pension to keep my kids in college. If I had died, my family would have been broke. Being fired gave me a much deeper empathy for people. I had to fire a few people but it was never easy. I went through the kinds of questions I am raising here and even when there was no choice, I always had a sense of failure and profound regret. The main question I asked myself was, “Have I fulfilled my duty to this person as a supervisor?” One big reason we are put in supervisory positions is to develop our people. We are not required to succeed but I would never feel right about firing anyone if I did not feel I had given them my best effort. The man who wrote the note has done very well. I am proud of him. I am thankful I did not let my ego provoke me into firing a man with his good mind, capabilities and possibilities. I hope you will have the grand experience of seeing someone you didn’t fire prove you right.
|
