“You can’t fire Cal. He’s indispensable.”

That’s what the Board told me on my first day as CEO. Cal was their lead engineer. He had decades of experience, deep technical knowledge, and a reputation for terrorizing anyone who dared disagree with him. Team members scheduled meetings around his moods. New hires quickly learned to stay out of his way. The entire engineering culture revolved around keeping Cal from exploding.

“He knows too much,” they warned. “The company would collapse without him.

Nor would we have the time or money to replace him.”

After his first outburst with me, we had a discussion. After his second, I fired him.

What happened next wasn’t chaos. It was relief. People started sharing stories about how Cal had made their work harder, shut down ideas, and poisoned the culture. The engineer who stepped into his role? Frank, Cal’s technician who’d been quietly keeping detailed notes all along. He got results, boosted morale, simplified everything.

After six years under Cal’s “irreplaceable” leadership, the company still didn’t have a commercial product. Turns out he wasn’t such a superstar. He was an anchor, weighing the rest of the company down and stalling momentum.

The Myth of Indispensable

We throw around words like “unicorn” and “linchpin” for employees we’re afraid to lose.

Here’s the thing: If someone’s not delivering results and contributing positively to your culture, they need to go. That’s it. Because if they’re not doing both, no amount of institutional memory or technical knowledge justifies keeping them.

I see this pattern consistently in CEO peer groups. Someone brings up a personnel challenge, everyone nods, then somebody says what we’re all thinking: “Why haven’t you fired them yet?” If you mention the same personnel issue twice, the advice becomes unanimous.

It’s not flippant. It’s clarity from the outside looking in.

Why We Wait (When We Shouldn’t)

The fears are real:

Knowledge loss
Team disruption
Looking heartless
Having to do the work ourselves

Here’s what I’ve learned: when fear drives your decisions, progress stops. The difficult conversation you’re avoiding today often becomes the crisis that derails you tomorrow.

There’s Never a Perfect Time

I had an old poster: "Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid."

You're waiting for the project to finish. For them to train someone. For a "better time."

The reality is there's rarely a better time. The opportunity cost of not acting compounds every day you wait as team morale drops, innovation stalls, progress stops.

Why We Avoid the Conflict

Nobody ever wants to be the bad guy. Firing someone feels heavy, personal, and final. For you, for them, for the team. Avoiding necessary conflict is abdication disguised as leadership.

When you let toxic behavior slide, you’re not just tolerating one person’s dysfunction. You’re telling everyone else that results and culture don’t actually matter. That’s the real damage.

Two Clear Signals

Results: Look at outcomes, not effort. Cal worked long hours and knew the system inside and out. But six years, no commercial product yet. Activity isn't progress.

Team Impact: If the same name keeps coming up in your one-on-ones (people feeling frustrated, shut down, or walking on eggshells), pay attention. Root cause analysis works for people problems, too.

The Coaching Checkpoint

Before firing, a candid conversation matters. Not just a warning, but a real check-in about what’s happening and what needs to change.

With Cal, I pulled him aside, gave him strategies to manage his frustration. He admitted he knew better. Two days later, he did it again. That’s what confirmed this wasn’t a coaching issue. It was a values issue.

Sometimes you’ll find someone ready to grow. Other times, you realize you can’t coach your way out of fundamental misalignment.

Making the Call

When done with empathy and integrity, firing isn’t cruelty. It’s clarity. Let them go with honesty and dignity. Give what support you can. Just don’t let your fear of discomfort keep you locked into dysfunction.

Most of the time, your team already knows. They’re waiting for you to act.

After Cal left, Frank was able to step up, get results, and restore morale. Leadership was convinced Cal was irreplaceable. His team knew better.

Progress Requires Courage

The hardest decisions often bring the most relief. Sometimes the most courageous thing you can do for your team, your company, and yourself is simply let go.

Progress and fear can't coexist. In my work with growth-stage companies, I've seen this pattern repeat time and time again: the person you’re afraid to fire might be the one preventing everyone else from succeeding.