"How Do I Fire a Well-Liked but Underperforming Leader?"

Firing a well-liked but underperforming leader is not always a straightforward matter. In some cases, a leader can excel in building relationships, culture, and camaraderie - while also repeatedly failing to complete role-required tasks and responsibilities. Removing this kind of leader is tricky.

Even if you know with certainty that you need to fire the leader for the overall good of your company, doing so can come across like a betrayal: both to the leader and to others in your organization. You may fear that loyal supporters of the leader will follow, creating a sudden shortage of labor. You may simply fear that your employees will feel disheartened by the loss of a good friend and coworker.

How do you fire a well-liked but underperforming leader without negatively impacting your teams, your culture, and your organization’s productivity?

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Prepare Well

Before taking any action, gather concrete evidence of the leader's incompetence. Document specific instances where their underperformance has negatively impacted the organization. This information will be vital in explaining the decision to the leader, employees, and stakeholders.

Focus on the Job

Well-liked leaders may fall back on their popularity as a defense for why they should not be fired. In your private exit announcement to the leader, use Emotional Intelligence to stay calm and focus on the job itself: how the job was not being done in a timely or effective manner. If necessary, reference the leader’s job description. Be clear that the decision came down to underperformance of listed tasks and responsibilities.

Encourage Your Leader to Move Forward

Many times, well-liked but underperforming leaders have genuine potential that cannot be used in their current role. Encourage your leader to find a new job that truly fits them, their strengths, and their story. They may want to look for a role where connection, networking, and influencing are more critical to role success.

Be Authentic; Tailor Transparency

Once you have announced the decision to the leader, prioritize open and honest communication with your workforce. Schedule a company-wide meeting to address the situation directly. Explain the reasoning behind the decision, emphasizing that it was made in the best interest of the organization. Be prepared to answer questions and address concerns.

In this process, we recommend highly that you speak with authenticity, while tailoring your level of transparency. Authenticity is different from transparency. With authenticity, you are being real about what happened with the leader: not trying to soften the blow, not offering empty reassurances, and not marketing false platitudes. You are sharing genuine feelings of sorrow, disappointment, and loss. Separately, transparency has to do with the level of details shared. Not every employee at your organization will need to know everything that went into the firing decision, nor would it be prudent to share an extremely fine level of detail. For a very high-up leader, we would recommend that you keep it broad. For example, you could say, “We have noticed repeated events of underperformance that did not improve despite our mutual best efforts; unfortunately, these events led us to our final decision.”

Express Gratitude for the Leader’s Strengths

While discussing the leader's departure, acknowledge their positive contributions and the reasons why they were beloved with gratitude. This shows respect for others’ feelings and the leader's past efforts. Encourage others to continue emulating the leader’s strengths.

Redirect Attention to the Future

Lastly, in your company-wide announcement, shift the conversation towards the organization's vision and goals. Outline how new leadership will help achieve these objectives and benefit everyone in the long run; call out specific roles that will be most benefited by the change. This forward-looking approach can help employees see beyond their immediate emotional reactions.