A small business owner from St. Louis called into the “EntreLeadership” podcast recently with a workplace problem that hit a nerve. Scott, who runs a five-person dental practice pulling in $1.3 million a year, said two of his employees just can’t seem to get along, and it’s been going on for two years.
“They fight like cats and dogs,” Scott said. “They’re always at each other.”
One employee, he explained, is a “classic Southern belle” with strong ideals and a judgmental streak. The other is “rough around the edges,” a single mom with five kids, bold tattoos and dramatic makeup. Scott said they wouldn’t like each other even if they passed on the street.
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Despite the tension, both are excellent at their jobs. “They’re great in their roles,” he added, “but they just do not get along.”
Scott admitted he’s had multiple conversations with each employee separately and together, trying to mediate. But nothing has worked. “I’m kind of getting to the point where it’s like, okay, how much is this my job to help these two adults?” he asked.
That’s when entrepreneur and personal finance expert Dave Ramsey cut in. “Oh, it is your job,” Ramsey said firmly. “You’re the leader. Your job’s to fire. You got to fire them both if you can’t get it straightened out.”
Ramsey pressed Scott to stop tolerating the toxic energy. “It has to end, and I’m not going to put up with it. If I own the place, I’m not going to put up with it,” he said.
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He encouraged Scott to hold a no-nonsense meeting with the two women. “The next time that you guys go at each other like this, the one that starts it, I’m going to fire them.”
Ramsey emphasized that respect is now part of the job description. “You don’t have to go to dinner together, but you at least have to be kind and reasonable to each other.”
Ramsey warned Scott to be ready for pushback. “One of them will say, ‘Well, that’s just the way I am.’ Fire them when they say that.”
He shared a story about a former employee who made colleagues cry but refused to change his behavior. “He goes, ‘These people just need to have thick skin.’ And I’m like, ‘No, they don’t. You do.’”
