It’s one of the hardest parts of leadership: looking at someone on your team and realizing they might no longer be a fit for your organization. Not because they’ve suddenly changed, but because you’ve grown, the organization has evolved, or maybe the role itself has outpaced their skill set.
That moment, quiet as it may be, hits you hard, because it never really feels like their failure. It feels like yours.
But there’s a clarifying question every leader should be asking regularly: If this person left today, would I fight to retain them?
It sounds simple. But think about how often you actually sit with that question, how often you let it challenge you, and how often you avoid it because it’s uncomfortable, or because you’re overwhelmed, or because hiring is a nightmare and keeping someone “for now” feels easier than ripping off the Band-Aid.
During a recent master class with Kevin Turner, who led at both Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Microsoft, he shared how those organizations tackle this head-on. They don’t assess talent annually; they do it monthly. Every single month, leaders are asked to evaluate their people using a clear grading system, because the organization deserves the best. And that means constantly looking at who’s helping drive it forward.
Their process aligns closely with the Top Grading model, something we’ve incorporated into our own system. Here’s how it works: each individual is assessed in one of five zones.
- Blue means promote them two levels up.
- Green means promote them one level up.
- Yellow means they’re solid in their current role, so keep them there.
- Orange signals a potential concern that needs further review.
- Red means it’s time to part ways.
And here’s the most critical part: they don’t just assess; they act.
That last part is where most of us get stuck. We do the reviews. We have the feelings. But we don’t always move. We delay decisions. We justify staying the course. We tell ourselves that time will help, or that good people deserve another quarter. And maybe they do. But we owe it to our teams and our customers to make sure our organization isn’t quietly carrying the cost of hesitation.
One of the practices we’ve adopted is embedding the rehire question into our quarterly reviews. It’s a private reflection, asked only of the manager: If this person left today, would you rehire them?
No surprise, the answer is sometimes no. And yet, that person stays. So, what’s going on?
Sometimes it’s fear. Sometimes it’s exhaustion. Sometimes it’s the reality of backfilling a role in California (which, if you know, you know 😊). But the truth is that holding on to someone who isn’t performing does more harm than good, not just for the business, but for that person’s own growth.
We tell ourselves we’re being kind by delaying hard conversations, but real kindness requires honesty. And real leadership requires action.
That’s why performance systems matter, not just for compliance or documentation, but for clarity. We can’t manage what we don’t see. When your systems surface the right data and give you a line of sight into metrics that matter, you start leading with precision, not just instinct.
And yes, I’ll be honest, of course I have a solution for that. It’s called Team GPS. But I digress.
The main point here is this: as leaders, we have to make time for reflection. We have to pause long enough to ask the hard questions. And we have to give ourselves permission to make tough calls. Because the goal isn’t to build a team that gets by, the goal is to build a team that elevates everything.
So, take stock. Look at your current roster. Do you have A players? Do they challenge you? Do they bring solutions instead of problems? Do you look forward to your meetings with them, or do you brace yourself for what’s coming?
It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being intentional.
There’s nothing wrong with desired attrition when it’s guided by clarity, data, and purpose. Some people need a different seat. Some need a different bus. But your team deserves to be filled with people who raise the bar, not just meet it.
Microsoft and Walmart figured this out. They don’t wait to assess. They don’t avoid the mirror. They ask, they decide, and they act. That’s the level we need to play at.
So, what will you do this quarter to make your team better?
And more importantly, if someone left today, would you rehire them?
