How should a manager conduct the termination conversation itself?

Harry Stebbings · Aug 21, 2023

Firing should stay hard emotionally, and it's a bad sign if it becomes easy

If it gets too easy you lose your humanity; the difficulty means you still actually feel

26:02 Firing should remain emotionally hard ease signals lost humanity

Chris Degnan · May 23, 2026

When firing someone, say as little as possible, get in and out quickly, and be kind rather than an asshole

Once the research is done the decision won't change, so debating 'I can change' serves no one

31:56 Brief kind and final no debate

Brian Halligan · Jan 15, 2024

Fire people live rather than on Zoom, with no one else in the room, empathetically and fast — and if the firing is a surprise to the person, that's the manager's fault

47:28 Fire in person not remotely fast and a surprise firing is the managers fault

Jean-Denis Greze · Jul 21, 2023

Being good at firing means identifying at the right moment that the odds of an individual succeeding in the role no longer serve the business, not mastering the delivery of the news

If you've genuinely given them a shot to improve and convinced yourself it doesn't make sense for the business, you're doing what's right for the business and they'll respect you for it even if it doesn't feel fair in the moment

11:44 Being good at firing is timing judgment about fit not mastery of delivery