Would you have fired Michael Jordan?

Would you fire your team’s Michael Jordan?

credit NY Times (see link to their article on Michael Jordan below)

If your superstar performer is toxic for your team, what to do?

My answer is, as I’ve written about many times, including here, here, and here, always the same: Be rid of them, now

Now, if Michael Jordan had been on your team, would you have fired him?

For those who have watched the ten part series “The Last Dance” which was released recently, this question is on the mind of many.

Let’s look at the question once more with that example in mind and also to give you space to consider how you approach this in your own leadership of your team.

First, a disclaimer. Back in 1994, as the Bulls completed their first “three-peat” I gave my oldest son the middle name “Jordan”. So, yes, I am an enormous fan of the play of Michael Jordan.

However, as details emerged over the course of his career about how he acted with his teammates and management of the Bulls, would I have wanted him on my team? First, let me go back to something I wrote in “Always fire A**holes”:

Fire them, and do it right away.

The long term cost of keeping a toxic individual will always, always outweigh the short term cost of whatever it is you will lose by not having them on…