The Noida-based founder and CEO of InstaAstro has revealed that he once fired a senior employee — simply because the employee asked him, “Sir, tell me what to do next.” Nitin Verma said the incident reshaped his understanding of ownership in the workplace and what leadership truly means for senior professionals.
In a polarising post shared on LinkedIn, Verma said that the employee had been brought in specifically so that he would no longer need to oversee that particular company function himself.
‘I fired someone’
“I fired someone because he asked me, ‘Sir tell me what to do next.’ A senior hire. Someone I brought in specifically because I didn’t want to think for that function anymore,” the founder and CEO of InstaAstro said on LinkedIn.
He went on to explain why the simple question triggered him so much.
Verma said there was no micromanagement, no daily check-ins, and no approval bottlenecks. However, when the employee approached him asking what needed to be done next, he took it as lack of ownership on his part.
Verma said he responded by asking the employee what he thought should be done.
“He said, ‘Sir you know better.’ I asked, ‘Why did I hire you then?’” Verma recalled, adding that the conversation ended in “silence”.
A lesson about ownership
Verma said that the incident made him realise that ownership cannot be taught. Using the incident to explain his management philosophy, he argued that ownership is not something that can be taught or handed over through authority or freedom alone.
“Here’s what I have learned about ownership: You cannot give it to someone. Either they walk in with it. Or they never find it,” he said.
He further said that autonomy without initiative can create confusion instead of productivity. “Freedom without ownership is just confusion,” he said.
Verma concluded that he could not “build a company on people who need to be told what to think.”
“If you’re a senior professional reading this, Your job is to walk in every morning and ask yourself, What needs to be done? That’s what seniority actually means,” he said.
Internet weighs in
The post drew mixed reactions on LinkedIn, where it was shared one day ago. Some people criticised the CEO for his leadership style.
“But sometimes a new hire just wants to align with your vision before making a massive strategic call,” one LinkedIn user suggested.
Nitin Verma defended his decision by saying, “I understand the point you are making.
But there is a difference between alignment and dependency. A senior professional asking for clarity once is normal.A senior professional needing constant direction is dangerous. I am not hiring hands. I am hiring judgment.”
“My first boss told me to never bring him a problem without bringing three solutions first. That advice changed my entire career,” another LinkedIn user revealed.
“How do you screen for that instinct during your initial interview process now?” a third asked.
“How much of this behavior stems from a fear of making a costly mistake in the first ninety days?” another wondered.
(Also read: Bengaluru startup founder faces backlash for firing developer and relying on AI tools)
