We recently worked with Vivek Bhaskaran, CEO at QuestionPro. Here we discuss one of the toughest leadership calls CEOs face: letting go of a toxic high performer versus retaining them and managing the fallout.

This is not a theoretical debate. Vivek speaks from lived experience, including rehiring the same high performer more than once before drawing a hard line.

His takeaway is clear. Performance never excuses toxicity. High output does not justify cultural damage. Over time, the cost of keeping a toxic player compounds across morale, trust, and leadership credibility.

For CEOs scaling from $1M to $5M in revenue, these decisions show up fast. Who you tolerate becomes who you are. Culture is shaped less by values on a wall and more by the behavior you allow to stay.

This conversation cuts through the noise and lands on a simple leadership standard that many CEOs learn the hard way.

Listen to Wisdom From Wizards on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, Castbox, iHeart, or your favorite podcast app.

Wisdom From Wizards with Nitin Kartik is brought to you by Caribou Strategic, helping CEOs grow revenue $1M+ in 12 months with our money back guarantee:

https://cariboustrategic.com/s

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