The Human Side of Leadership: The Human Side of Layoffs
By: Lisa Greenwald
04/29/2025
I inherited a healthy business and within a few years – like someone flipped a switch – things slowed. It wasn’t just us; research firms of all sizes and specialties experienced a couple of bad years. However, knowing I wasn’t alone didn’t really take the worry and guilt away.
Managing through and dealing with a change of staffing — “downsizing” your team – is something you never want to be faced with. There is never a right way to handle these decisions. They are difficult, from building a contingency plan to ensure business and client care continuity to knowing you are making decisions that will significantly impact the team you have built and who share your vision and goals.
Conducting a significant layoff in a small company has proven to be the most difficult and taxing experience of my career. I knew and cared about the people being laid off; they were my friends and mentors. To this day, my brain knows it was the right thing for the business and the remaining team, but my heart wishes it could’ve been different. I can’t imagine layoffs are easy at any company, but I assure you it’s complicated beyond what I can express, when you’ve quite literally grown up with your colleagues.
What I gleaned from the experience is that I will always be a leader who cares about the team Lisa Weber-Raley and I have built. They have helped build the very brand experience our clients have come to expect when working with us and we strive to deliver to them so they can achieve their business goals. As Lisa has said many times to me “our people are the Greenwald brand” and that is what made this even more difficult for both of us, as we both believe in the people who shape our success every day. I learned a lot from this experience. In downsizing, we had to use cold objectiveness and reason to sustain this amazing company, but privately, I hope to always maintain the emotional side, to always care. I don’t ever want to be the type of business leader that loses sight of people.
Maintaining a positive and optimistic outlook in the face of challenges is not only personally demanding but also critical for leading a team effectively. It was a hard thing to do when the chips were down, and it is the area in which I continue to need the most work. When my or my management team’s morale is down, the whole team feels it. When we stay positive, we can overcome these challenges, emerge stronger, more resilient, and ready for the next chapter.
There will be good times and times of challenge. It helps to be “battle-tested” — it gives Lisa and I the perspective we need to navigate the firm through all circumstances, staying true to who we are as leaders, and respecting the culture of collaboration and teamwork we have built within Greenwald.
