Founders ask me all the time: if your purpose is to make others successful, doesn’t that just make you a yes man? And how do you reconcile firing people with that purpose? In this episode of The Cort Brady Podcast, I unpack both of those tough questions with raw stories from my own journey:

• How I let vanity metrics and pushback stop me from implementing KPIs—and why it nearly destroyed us.

• The difference between helping someone succeed vs. enabling their excuses.

• Why you can’t want someone’s success more than they want it.

• How toxic high performers silently sabotage your team.

• And why firing—done right—isn’t harsh, but an act of love.

This is the playbook for building a company where A-players thrive and success compounds.