Despite our best efforts, it's just not working.

They're not succeeding with the company. They're not producing to the standard the role requires. And somewhere along the way, they've grown dissatisfied — grumbling to anyone who will listen.

Meanwhile, you — their supervisor — are the one absorbing the cost. You're correcting them. Coaching them. Training them, again. Following up, again. Disciplining, again. And on your worst days, quietly doing their work for them just to keep the wheels turning.

Sometimes we have to part ways with employees.

It's one of the hardest calls a leader makes, and one of the easiest to keep putting off. But delay doesn't make it kinder — it just makes it slower.

In her book The Secret, Rhonda Byrne describes the Law of Attraction through the image of an overstuffed closet: one crammed with clothes that no longer fit and pieces that have outlived their usefulness, kept out of habit rather than purpose. As long as that closet stays full, there's no room for anything new — the clutter itself is what blocks the possibility.

A staff cluttered with people who are no longer engaged, growing, or energized by the company's vision works the same way. Every seat held by someone who's stopped fitting the role is a seat that can't hold someone who does. Here's why clearing that space is usually the right call — for the company, for you, and even for the employee walking out the door.

Why It's Best for the Company

Remove unproductive payroll costs.  Every dollar spent propping up a role that isn't performing is a dollar not spent on one that could be.

Reclaim lost opportunities with better performers.  A seat filled by the wrong person is a seat unavailable to the right one.

Improve morale with coworkers.  Your best people notice who's carrying the weight and who isn't. Letting underperformance sit unaddressed doesn't protect the team — it just tells them what your standards actually are.

Improve customer relationships and results.  The people closest to your customers shape how those customers experience your business. That's not a place to leave to chance.

Why It's Best for You

Sleep better.  Carrying someone else's performance problem is exhausting, and it doesn't stop when you clock out.

Direct your coaching and mentoring toward a more productive outcome.  The hours you're spending correcting, following up, and doing damage control are hours you could invest in someone who's ready to grow.

Gain traction and feel accomplished.  Momentum is hard to build when you're stuck managing the same problem on repeat.

Why It's Best for the Employee You Part Ways With

Failing never feels good to anyone.  Not to them, and not to you, watching it happen.

Relief.  You can make the decision they may not be able to make for themselves.

Help them get “unstuck.”  They may see no way out of a role that isn't working. You can give them one.

Help them find their “better fit” sooner.  The job that's wrong for them is standing between them and the one that's right.

It Works Both Ways

History is full of proof. Some of the most accomplished people alive were fired from the job they were in before they found the one they were meant for.

Oprah Winfrey — fired from her first television reporting job in Baltimore, told she was “unfit for television news.” Went on to build one of the most influential media empires in history.

Walt Disney — fired from a newspaper job in 1919, his editor claiming he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” Went on to found Disney.

Steve Jobs — pushed out of the company he co-founded in 1985 after a boardroom power struggle. Returned a decade later to lead Apple's biggest chapter.

Michael Bloomberg — let go from Salomon Brothers in 1981 after 15 years. Used his severance to found Bloomberg LP the very next morning.

Anna Wintour — fired from her first fashion editor job and told she'd never understand the American market. Went on to run Vogue for 37 years.

Every one of them was let go from a seat that didn't fit. The firing is what cleared the closet for the seat that did.

Sometimes we have to part ways with employees.

Not because we've stopped caring about their success — but because we finally have. The kindest thing you can do for someone in the wrong seat is help them find the right one. And the sooner you do it, the sooner everyone involved — the company, you, and them — gets to move forward.

Clear the closet. Make room for what's next.