We recently had to terminate a highly toxic outside executive after only six months, and the experience has left our remaining legacy leadership team deeply defensive and resistant to future hiring. How do we rebuild trust and move forward?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A bad executive hire is an expensive, painful lesson. It is natural for your legacy team to feel defensive, but allowing that fear to freeze your hiring strategy will stall your growth. You must address the setback openly to rebuild trust.

First, own the mistake. Hold a special Same Page meeting with your leadership team. Practice vulnerability, which is the foundation of trust. Admit where the hiring process failed, whether you rushed the decision, ignored core value red flags, or failed to properly define the seat on the Accountability Chart.

Second, use the IDS process to analyze what went wrong. Do not blame the individual. Focus on the system. Did the candidate truly match your core values of being Humbly-Confident and helping first? Did they pass the GWC test? Identify the gaps in your onboarding and interviewing processes and agree on concrete solutions to fix them.

Finally, involve your leadership team in the design of the next executive search. Give them a voice in refining the seat description and interviewing final candidates. This collaborative approach reinforces the Trust pillar of your Charter. By improving your hiring system together, you turn a painful failure into a shared victory that strengthens your team's alignment and prepares you for future scaling.