The Comp Plan Mistake That Quietly Kills Team Trust

Firing people is the kindest thing you can do.

Barrett Brooks spent years as COO of ConvertKit, scaling the company past $30M before becoming an executive coach to founders and leaders. He joins hosts Adam Jay and Dale Zwizinski for a conversation about the uncomfortable side of people-first culture.

They get into what most leaders get wrong about kindness, accountability, and the gap between what a company says it values and what it actually rewards.

We discuss:

Why a "people-first" culture can quietly protect your worst performersThe real reason firing conversations get avoided, and why that's not kindnessHow to close the gap between stated values and lived behaviorBuilding comp plans for intrinsically motivated, creative salespeopleA simple exercise to learn what actually drives the people on your teamChapters:

(00:00) Treating coaching like an athlete's craft

(01:29) Talent as a Culture Multiplier

(02:18) The hidden cost of an overly people-first culture

(05:00) "We should have fired more people"

(06:17) Setting boundaries like you would with a toddler

(09:14) The 1% of managers willing to have the hard conversation

(11:28) Where values collided with P&L at Kit