When diagnosing a failing department, stop looking for tactical issues. The problem is always the leader, full stop. A great leader can turn a mediocre team into a great one, but a mediocre leader will inevitably turn a great team mediocre. Don't waste time; solve the leadership problem first.

Shift your mindset from feeling responsible for your employees' actions and feelings to being responsible *to* them. Fulfill your obligations of providing training, resources, and clear expectations, but empower them to own their own performance and problems.

While a single performance-based layoff can target underperformance, repeated rounds signal a systemic failure in leadership. It suggests managers are unable to hire, coach, or provide feedback effectively, making it a management problem rather than an individual employee issue.

CEOs often complain about team failures or external factors. However, they are the ones who hire, set the culture of accountability, and build resilient systems. Accepting that you are the root cause of all problems is empowering because it means you also hold the power for all solutions.

Citing a Steve Jobs anecdote, Chang asserts that for senior leaders, the reasons behind failure are irrelevant. If you succeed, you get the praise; if you fail, you get all the blame. This fosters a culture of extreme ownership and accountability where excuses are not tolerated.

Keeping an employee in a role where they are failing is a profound disservice. You cannot coach someone into a fundamentally bad fit. The employee isn't growing; they're going backward. A manager's responsibility is to provide direct feedback and, if necessary, 'invite them to build their career elsewhere.'

A common leadership pitfall is blaming underperforming employees. True leadership involves taking full responsibility, either by coaching them to success or by making the tough decision to fire them. The excuse 'my people stink' is a failure of the leader, not the team.

When sales teams miss targets, the default reaction is to blame the reps. However, the root cause is often a leadership failure in maintaining standards and ensuring consistent execution. The problem is with the system and leadership, not just the individuals.

Instead of letting go of underperforming employees, adopt the philosophy that their failure is your failure first as a manager. This forces you to re-evaluate if you've provided the right goals, context, and support, which can often unlock their potential.