Letting People Go

Chapter 1

The Firing Squad

Introduction

The moment I sat down and started to write this book, I received a phone call from a friend who is the founder and chief technology officer (CTO) of the number-one company in his field. He called to tell me that he was about to lay off four vice presidents. He asked me if I could use one of them in my firm. He proceeded to give me a great recommendation on the person he was referring. He had recognized that it was the chief executive officer’s (CEO’s) mistake in hiring these people in the first place—he knew the reorganization was coming and these positions would be eliminated.

At first I was impressed. He did two things most executives don’t do when they let people go: he recognized the source of this ...