Finding Your Swagger

I think the “lost swagger” thing is that there was a decision made behind closed doors that he knew was bad and chose not to speak up. So when that decision indeed caused something bad, he emailed the CEO explaining why they should have know it was bad from the start. And the CEO complained that he was hired to “speak up” and he didn’t. And instead of bouncing back, he spiraled downwards (presumably doing a very bad job and justifying his firing).

If he had the confidence to come back to who he was, even after being targeted by jealous executives and messing up with one decision (splitting the eng team), he would have done a better job.

That’s my take of it

This was a tough post to read, and I am glad the author was able to recover and land on his feet again. But, I can't help but think that this was an awful work environment.

First of all, no one should feel blindsided and fired like that! It sounds like the only feedback he ever got was some received was some vague 'get your mojo back'. Also, having to force yourself into meetings is just a sign of toxic politics to me. It certainly doesn't need to be a formal top down structure, but when people start getting exclusionary and territorial that is a bad sign.

I understand this is a startup, but there were 100 people! If the company is counting on everyone to impulsively take initiative that sounds like total chaos. Even when I worked at a company with 10 people I would think through proposals, then discuss them with my manager or the CEO before actually executing.

The last thing is that having swagger shouldn't replace authenticity. People have a good ability to sniff out a phony, so be yourself. If you end up in some wild chaotic environment where you have to fight to survive, the best option may be to leave!

We obviously don't know like 99.9% of the full story, but the fact that he had a long session with the COO one evening and then got fired the very next day in the morning is just plain evil and wrong. It's not how you treat a human. It's disrespectful to say the least. The employee went home feeling good, so the COO basically charmed him up the day before firing him in order to get out the last ounce of what they considered was worth getting out of this employee before discarding him. That's disgusting behaviour and I personally would never want to work with such a COO or company at all.

Now on the topic of swagger. I agree, it's important to know who you are and be comfortable to be that person. Every human contributes in their own way. Swagger doesn't mean ego or arrogance, to me swagger means you know your strengths and feel comfortable to play your role in your team/community/family/etc.

Some people are great critical thinkers, some are great motivators, jokers, conservatives and risk averse planners, etc.

You need all of them. Everyone has their own swagger. Some people are quiet and sit in the corner of a room and throw in a critical question at the right moment of a meeting which others might find annoying but in the end everyone knows it was good that it happened. Some talk a lot, walk into a room and make jokes and struggle to sometimes focus on the topic at hand but they lift up spirits and soften the mood when things get heated. Like there is really no perfect human being. You need all those different characters to contribute and it requires everyone to be accepting of the other person in order to really become a great team. This is how it works in strong families who go through thick and thin and this is how it works in great performing teams.

Know yourself and know your swagger!

It is not very clear why did they fire him. Did he not fulfill his duties?

Being fired for not speaking when he was previously excluded from those discussions seems absurd. Anyway, he was hired as a PO, he wasn't a CTO or COO and wasn't responsible for the company strategy.

Maybe he was fired because they didn't like him and he didn't go well along with the others? That would explain also why he was excluded from the discussions.

Thanks Kevin for writing this up.

It's very hard to know the exact circumstances from one side of the story, but I agree wholeheartedly with voicing opinions when important, even if difficult or 'not your place'.

And of course, it's usually a sign something has gone wrong with people management if someone is very surprised when they're fired.