As a founder, how you deal with conflict, misalignment and sub-optimal behavior from employees or vendors is more important than how you deal with things going well.

To be an effective operator you need to...

1. Take maximum accountability for other people's misunderstandings, underperformance, or confusion, and correct your own behavior before blaming others.

2. Have hard conversations and establish new boundaries before things reach a failure state.

3. Set clear goals and use carrots and sticks to encourage changes in behavior.

4. Provide fair and reasonable pathways for remediation.

5. Treat people respectfully and ensure they are compensated well even while you might need to move them out of the business. This might include agreeing on a new/different role (with different titles and terms) to better reflect their abilities or contribution.

6. Do most of these things a) in private b) on the phone or in-person rather than via email (document actions in an email afterward).