Nice vs. Kind: Why Hard Conversations Matter in Leadership

2021. TikTok is exploding for consumer brands.

I am on a Zoom call with a TikTok marketer. She’s created millions of views for other clients. Millions.

She is not a personality fit. I know that quickly.

I hire her anyway. The numbers are too good to ignore.

I was hiring the stats, not the person.

Within weeks, it is clear. She is not a right fit.

I keep her on. For months. Long after it is obviously a disaster.

Because I cannot have the hard conversation.

Last Sunday, I told this story on stage at Shopify Builder Sundays in Ottawa. The topic: having hard conversations with the people on your team.

Here is what that mistake taught me.

Being nice and being kind are not the same thing.

Nice avoids the conversation. Nice keeps the peace and lets the problem grow.

Kind has the conversation. With honesty and respect. Because it is the right thing for her, for the team, and for the business.

Keeping someone in a role where they are failing is not kindness.

As always, I walked out having met incredible people building incredible things. Shopify is one of the places where that keeps happening. I never leave without a new idea or a fantastic new connection.

When was the last time you put off a hard conversation?