I believe in second chances. Genuinely.

Unless you burn the building down, there is very little you can do that you can't come back from — if the environment is right, the leadership is real, and the person is willing.

The hit list mentality — the instinct to write people off — almost always says more about the leader making the list than the people on it. I've seen that proved too many times to doubt it. The person being written off is usually carrying the consequences of a system that failed them, a standard that was never communicated, or a manager who gave up before they gave a real chance.

Give the second chance deliberately. With clarity about what changes, by when, and what happens if it doesn't. Not as a delay — as a genuine investment in someone who may have never had a real one.

Some will take it and become exactly who you needed. A few won't. But the ones who do are worth every one who doesn't — and the culture signal you send by giving real chances rather than running a revolving door is worth more than any single hire decision you'll ever make.