If we don’t make tough decisions today our children are going to have to make much, much tougher decisions tomorrow.
Imagine making the decision to pay someone $40 million for the next two years to do absolutely nothing to help your company.
The owners of the baseball team I root for – the New York Mets – did that last week. In doing so, they made one of the best management decisions I’ve ever seen. It’s a decision that many CEOs are reluctant to make.
The cost of a bad hire is astronomical – in what you invest, and in the message it sends to the rest of your staff.
When I took over a good newspaper in 1995, I knew the quickest way to make it a better newspaper was to trim the journalists who did not meet the standards I wanted. In the first few months on the job, I found about a half-dozen weak performers and gave them a chance to improve. They didn’t. They were let go with severance pay. And the morale of the staff absolutely soared. They knew that sub-standard work would not be tolerated.
The Mets cut a 39-year-old player named Robinson Cano who, at one time in his career, appeared headed for the Hall of Fame. But age and steroid use curtailed his career. Even though he has a great track record, his performance this year was horrible. He ranked at the bottom of nearly every category. The owners could either cut or demote some other players with special talents that might help the team win, or say goodbye to Cano. And they’d still owe him almost $40 million for doing nothing, or paying for someone else’s team if another team signs him.
They decided to eat the loss. They cut Cano. And sent a message to the team – we care more about the success of this team than eating the loss.
Three nights after making this decision, the Mets scored seven runs in the ninth inning to win a game. Three of the players who might have been cut instead of Cano made critical contributions to that win.
Being the boss is never easy. The decisions for the long term are often painful in the short term.
Your staff watches each of your moves and what you tolerate. The lowest performer on your staff sets the standard for what you will allow in your organization.
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