People often think of leadership as making big, impressive decisions that everyone notices. But real leadership is usually about making hard choices that can keep you up at night. Recently, I faced one of the toughest situations in my job, and it taught me important lessons about being a leader, being a friend, and the need to make tough choices.

In this blog, I discuss what I learned when I had to fire a friend and the important leadership lessons I gained from it.

The Emotional Toll of Professional Decisions

I had to make one of the hardest decisions ever: firing a friend. It was tricky because I hired him. After all, we were friends. Initially, I thought working alongside a friend was a good idea—who wouldn’t want that? However, I soon found that mixing work and friendship can create serious issues.

We were good friends, but I saw he wasn’t doing his job well. I avoided saying anything, fearing it would hurt our friendship, but that made it harder later. Not acting right away was my second mistake.

The Emotional Crossroad

I felt guilty and questioned my decision, but as a leader, I knew I had to prioritise the company, even if the choice was personally difficult.

After a lot of thought, I made the difficult decision to let him go. Although tough, I knew it was important for the company’s future.

This situation taught me that being a leader involves making hard choices for the good, rather than just maintaining friendships.

The Lesson Learned

This experience taught me an important lesson: mixing friendship with leadership can be a bad idea. When you combine personal relationships with work decisions, your feelings can make it hard to think clearly. You might wait too long to make tough choices, which can hurt the company.

Here are some reasons why maintaining friendships with team members can lead to conflicts:

1. Emotional Bias Cloud Judgment: Friendships at work can complicate decision-making. You might find yourself overlooking their problems or justifying their poor work, which can have a negative effect on team performance and ultimately harm the company’s productivity and success.
2. Tough Decision Get Delayed: Worrying about hurting someone’s feelings can make you wait too long to act. Putting off important decisions can affect how your team feels and how well they work.
3. The Company Suffers: Ultimately, the company suffers because of personal feelings. Keeping a friend in a job they aren’t good at can lower how much work gets done and hurt how the team works together.

Moving Forward as a Leader

I realised the importance of being careful when hiring people you know. It’s nice to work with friends or family, but it’s crucial to make sure they can do the job well.

If work issues come up, respond quickly. It’s important not to let emotions interfere so the company can do well.

Leaders should always put the company’s well-being first, even when choices are tough. Creating an environment where doing a good job matters more than friendships is crucial for success.

Can You Be This Kind of Leader?

We need to ask ourselves if we can be leaders who make hard choices when it matters. Are we ready to put our teams and the company first, even if it’s tough? Being a leader takes bravery and the ability to face hard situations directly.

Tough decisions often bring learning opportunities. Letting go of a friend was difficult, but it ultimately helped me grow and improve my leadership skills.

I realised that leadership is about making tough choices for the company, not just forming friendships.

After I made the hard choice to let my friend go, I noticed the team worked better and got more done. Everyone was more focused, and the whole work environment felt better. Even though it was hard for me, it helped the team and the company.

This experience taught me something important: tough choices, especially when friends are involved, can feel hard, but they’re sometimes needed to help the company do well. By putting the company’s needs first, I helped the team work together better, and in the end, it made everyone’s job easier.

Have you ever faced a tough decision like this at work? How did it affect your team and leadership journey?