3. Do you fi re David or keep him on your team? You have defi nitely reached a low point. Frustrated by an employee who is uncooperative, unmotivated, and sloppy about his work, you have resorted to writing a

“Dear Abby” style letter to a columnist in a popular business magazine. Letting out a heavy sigh, you scroll back to the top of your screen to review your work:

Dear Business Guru, A few months ago, I was promoted into my fi rst management job at the greeting card company where I work. I inherited a whiz-bang team, full of talent and energy, with the exception of one person—

Let’s call him David. Unlike the others on our team, he is uncooperative and unmotivated, and his work is sloppy, even though I know he can do better! Several veteran employees have told me David used to be the crown jewel in the team, working hard, collaborating, and generating great ideas. But now he’s altogether different.

I’m reluctant to fi re him for two reasons: from a technical standpoint, he would be diffi cult to replace; and our division is under an indefi nite hiring freeze. But his attitude and performance are having a negative impact on the rest of the team. What can I do to pull this guy out of a slump? Evidently, he was quite the employee—

and I need him to be that star employee again.

Pausing for a moment before hitting “send,” your eyes fall on an old management book in your overhead. Grabbing it, you say to yourself, “There’s got to be something in there to help me.” But as you fl ip through the pages, you can’t help thinking of all the time you’ve already spent on this guy. Maybe you should just fi re him and be done.