The #1 Reason to FIRE Your #1 Employee

0:00I fire every single person that is not a good human being regardless of how much money she or he makes for me.

0:12there is no quicker way to fuck everything up than to look the other way at someone who's talented and contributing but is a piece of shit human period and so my success rate is not based on how I hire my success rate is based on how I promote and how I fire. Hiring, my friends, is guessing. Let there be no, boy, oh boy, was I gifted with intuition and people skills. It's a real blessing. All, give all the credit to my parents having sex at the perfect nanosecond.

0:54And I have hired atrociously in my 30-year career because I'm too optimistic. There's a little bit too much charity in the way that I hire. it's just who I am. Hiring is guessing. Promoting and firing is knowing. Hire faster because you're not gonna figure it out anyway. Fire faster and promote fastest. One of the big mistakes a lot of us make is when we know we have something great on our hands, we wait a year. We wait two years. When I smell or sniff out somebody great, I'm letting them know fast. often with action on title and or dollars. If nothing else, by human interaction of like having a dinner and saying, you fucking got it, I want you here, let's get to know each other.

1:43The lack of time that people spend with their people, how could you have a relationship if you don't spend time together? The amount of time that bosses don't spend with people is staggering to me. I spend a shocking amount of time on 15 minute check-ins, 30 minute drinks, human interaction. The level, again, this industry knows this. I have an agency that's 14 years old. We have almost 100 people that have been at the company for 10 plus years. Do you know how fucking insane that is in our industry? That is earned. That is by giving a shit. That is by actually caring and knowing that continuity and culture and family business vibes build an unstoppable force.

2:25And so effort is the answer, my friend. So I want to actually dig into that a little bit more. You are independent. You've built an incredibly successful enterprise that allows you to make a phone call and say Saturn go and the team goes. Ish. This is going to really make the owners laugh. I basically think that a lot of people now listen to my content and advice, competitors even. I get emails all the time like thanks Gary, we beat you on this pitch by listening to this video. I'm like motherfucker. You know, I would argue as I sit here today with all the lovely things that have happened to me, the crew that's least listening to me is my own fucking company, Mike.

3:08It's just like, you know, it's like parents, right? Like, you just know, like, the answer's ish. Like, my company's very good. It's like anything else. You take for granted. All of you right now are taking for granted your best relationship. When I think about my parents, my mom is such a fucking angel and the greatest woman on earth and my dad is not as much. But he's fucking epic. I love my pops. But lately I'm like, fuck, I'm playing this wrong. I'm giving so much energy to my dad's emotional needs and I'm taking my mom for granted. I'm on the receiving end of getting taken for granted because of how I roll.

3:47And I think we take a lot of things for granted and I promise you my company does that right to my fucking face and it makes me laugh. But anyway, go ahead. I do think there are probably a lot of moms in this audience that feel taken for granted. A hundred percent. And so the question I was going to ask is if you're sitting in a role in an organization where you can't dictate transformation or you're sitting in a senior role, but it's a larger organization where it's harder to dictate transformation, what advice would you give for how to really drive that innovation, drive that point of view towards taking chances that you might not be able to otherwise?

4:25by respectfully communicating your actual point of view instead of conforming to what you think everyone wants to hear. And I'm saying that for a very specific reason. I'm doing that for you personally in the seats right now because your career will advance based on your historical correctness or incorrectness. There are many people right now saying things or agreeing to things in boardrooms that they know are not right and unfortunately they're doing it because they think that's what will work currently in the business and meanwhile, as the business gets challenged by doing the wrong things, you're gonna be the fall guy and fall gal for it.

5:00Let me tell you something very real because I've lived this life a lot. It is much more fun to die on your own sword than to die on someone else's.

5:14My friends, there's a lot of marketing transformation going on, you know it. You may know that your company can't change it. You may know your CEO's best friends with the agency holding company guy or gal and they're gonna run TV anyway or programmatic digital, whatever it is. But mentioning it in the room, what about? Like how about this brand that only lives on TikTok that's taken up a ton of our market share? How about that? Like talking truth, people are listening and it will set you up. Please don't keep your mouth shut when you have a true belief. Don't speak out of your ass. Don't talk about things you don't know.

5:49But if you know, the answer is to respectfully communicate it. And then if nothing happens and you want to be part of transformation, I have tremendous news. If you don't like how the company's rolling, quit. Be accountable. You're unhappy that nobody listens to you? Go find someplace that will. Or, know that you're being there for another three years because you're paying off something or something's important, and shut your fucking mouth. Complaining is for losers.

6:16Complaining is for losers. Complaining is for losers. if you're a complainer that's okay DNA parenting luck of the draw if you're a complainer I just have a fun game for you to play the next couple weeks pay very close attention to who listens to your complaining it's only gonna be two groups of people the people that love you so much they're like fuck it I'll listen or other fucking losing complaining humans audit your fucking circles friends audit your circles Hey everybody, actually, if you're a really hardcore listener, you know I never do this. I'm sorry to be jumping in the middle of the podcast, but the truth is, I'm like shitting the bed on this.

7:00Everybody else is getting people to review on Spotify and Apple, and like the Vayner Nation does none of that, because I've never asked. So if this podcast has ever meant anything to you, please go to Spotify or Apple right now and leave a review. By the way, even if you give me a one-star review because you think it's shit, I respect it, but just leave a review, an actual review. four or five stars and the actual details of why. Yeah, that would mean something for me. So thanks. Now back to the podcast.