Three tough conversations before 10 AM

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Yesterday morning I had three tough conversations before 10 AM.

These were real, uncomfortable, stress-inducing conversations.

First was with an admin I had to let go.
Second was a cleaner with attitude problems I almost fired.
And third was a customer who finally agreed to stop making our lives harder.

Same morning. Three people. Three very different outcomes.

It got me thinking about something every business owner has to wrestle with at some point:

When do you call it quits and when do you give it another shot?

Here’s how I thought through it today. Hopefully this helps you as you grow and manage your own business.

The Admin
This one was clear.

She wasn’t getting the job done, and there were detail issues we’d already talked about several times.

She’s a wonderful person, but there were deeper things that just weren’t changing.
At some point, you have to accept that you can’t fix every problem.

I have been inspired recently by the phrase “being clear is being kind.” If the role isn’t a fit and the skills aren’t there, the kindest thing you can do is let them move on.

The Cleaner
Totally different scenario here.

This cleaner is actually one of our best! When it comes to the work itself, she always delivers. She shows up, she is fast, and she cares.

But lately, the attitude’s been off. Sometimes downright disrespectful.

I almost pulled the plug, but I wanted to dig a little deeper.
We talked and I gave clear feedback.

I heard her side of the story and what she was going through in her personal life. During our conversation, I saw enough there to believe we could turn things around.

We just needed a good reset and to have a hard conversation.

The Customer
He’s one of those customers who sends a ton of business our way. And makes a ton of asks.

We’ve been asking him to tweak a few things on his end for a while now.
Every time, it was like... yeah yeah yeah. Then nothing.

But this morning, he finally gave us the green light to make the changes.
Turns out all that nudging paid off.

It was a good reminder that just because something feels hard doesn’t mean it’s not working.

Here’s what I’m learning:
Running a business means constantly asking yourself

Is this relationship or people issue fixable, or is this the end of the road?

There’s no formula for that.

What helps me is zooming out and looking at the whole picture.

• Do they care?

• Are they capable?

• Is this a rough patch or a dead end?

If the answers line up, do the hard work to try and fix it.
If not, let it go and move on.

If you’re waiting to have a tough conversation with someone (an employee, cleaner, host, etc.) I’d love to hear about it!

Until next time,
Logan

Until next time,

Logan