How to Know You Made the Wrong Hire (Before You Restructure Your Business)

I’ve worked with enough leaders to know this: the breakdown rarely comes from the big decisions. Many don’t realize they’re already answering the question of how to know you made the wrong hire - long before they’re willing to name it.

It comes from the quiet ones - the sacrifices we make in the name of harmony, the silent recalibrations we justify as flexibility, the hesitation to see and name what we know to be true.

The Hidden Cost of the Wrong Hire

Last year, I found myself in one of those moments.

I had hired someone into a key role - someone smart, experienced, and full of initiative. On paper, they looked like the right fit. Early on, I convinced myself we were just finding our rhythm. But as the weeks went on, the friction felt more uncomfortable.

Their ideas were reasonable. But they didn’t match my operating cadence. They wanted to restructure systems that had been carefully designed to support the specific tempo of our work. 

Unbelievably, I almost changed everything to meet them there.

Not because I couldn’t feel the misalignment. I could. But because I wanted it to work. I wanted to be the kind of leader who could flex without fracturing.

When Emotional Intelligence Turns Into Over-Accommodation

That’s the catch, isn’t it?

Even seasoned leaders - especially the ones committed to conscious leadership - can mistake over-accommodation for emotional intelligence.

What shifted for me was a single conversation. A trusted voice on my team said something that cut through the swirl:

“Don’t you dare restructure your business for someone who can’t meet your standards. Your systems are a league above others in your field. You need someone who can elevate them, not survive them and definitely not redesign them.”

That was the moment I stopped trying to manage around the wrong hire and took action on the decision that was already clear to me. That clarity is often the turning point in how to know you made the wrong hire - when you stop managing around misalignment and start responding to truth.

I moved forward thoughtfully. I had conversations with my team. I acknowledged my part in the onboarding gap and took responsibility when we parted ways. I slowed the pace. And when I rehired for the same position, I did it differently.

Hiring for Alignment Instead of Adaptation

This time, I created an intentional runway. I defined both qualitative and quantitative markers of success.

I hired someone who truly aligned with our way of thinking, operating, and creating. My new business manager’s presence has brought a sense of clarity and flow that confirms what I suspected all along:

When the right person joins the system, everything clicks.

Where the Horizon Meets You:

Before you lead anything this year - your team, your company, your next evolution - you have to become the version of you who is leading with clarity first.

Not the version shaped by last year’s pace.
Not the one the world expects.
But the one who’s already attuned to what’s coming and what’s possible - and prepared to lead from there.

If you’re quietly questioning how to know you made the wrong hire - or sensing that your business has been bending to compensate - this is your moment to take action.

Schedule your Anti-Gravity Call and let’s explore what becomes possible when your leadership is calibrated for the impact you’re truly here to make.