When I was a Cub Scout so many, many years ago, I and my “pack members” would from time-to-time go out and earn physical representations of our meritorious achievements. These were called, and simply, “Badges.”

(I know exactly what you’re all saying to yourself right now --- well, the guys anyway --- “Badges? Badges!? We don’t need no stinking badges.”

It’s from “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”.

OK, back to reality.

I hear that some of the badge names have since changed --- for us, it was (and I THINK): Wolf (base level), Bear (somewhat advanced), Lion (very advanced --- very tough badge to earn), and Weblo. And “no” --- I have no idea what a “Weblo” is. And “right” --- I never earned one.

You earned a badge for doing things such as: helping an old guy cross the street (yikes! Now I’M that old guy!); building a baking-soda powered boat; and/or painting a fence bright yellow. In most cases, either society or one’s immediate family benefited from these badge-earning activities. How proud I was when I had my mother sew each patch onto my royal blue uniform.

We entrepreneurs earn badges, too. And, we earn ‘em all along the way --- and not just when we are starting out.

Recently, I counseled a young man who had just gone through one of MY badge-earning episodes. I could tell he was sick about the fact that one of his people had left him. And, that was the problem -- he regarded the resignation as someone leaving HIM, and not his enterprise. He was very, very depressed.

In reality, he had just gone through the same circumstance that so many entrepreneurs endure. A guy quits -- so what? This is not on you. It just didn’t work out. But, for the angst and anxiety something like this produces, you really should receive some kind of badge.

So, let me right now describe just a few of the badges that you as an entrepreneur may have either already earned, or else WILL be earning in the near-term future. It’ll be fun, and hopefully, it will help others avoid the mental anguish that I experienced way back then.

Here are just three --- the “Talk,” the “Quit,” and, the “Firing.” Enjoy.

Your first “Talk”

You start a business and, other than a partner who is just as revved up and/or frightened as you are, you’re on your own. Then, you hire your first employee.

If you’re older -- and, therefore, have some experience in managing others -- you already have some idea as to how this person should be employed and treated. But if you’re young, you know nothing at all about managing people and so you must feel your way.

Generally, and in this (latter) scenario, you tend to cycle between “kid gloves” and “terror.” Some first-time entrepreneur/owners over-reward their people. They lease them cars. They give them bonuses. They’re just amazed that anyone would even want to work for them!

Others think that the only way to get results is the whip. These owners soon have their people doing personal work. Running personal errands. And, grossly underpaying them.

In all cases, all owners soon learn that management ain’t exactly the things that you learned in school.

And, eventually comes the day. The day of the “Talk.” This is when you grow your first ring as a fruit-bearing tree.

As you set up the “talk,” you wonder: “How completely honest should I be? Should I tell her exactly how I feel, or should I sugar-coat it? And what does the rulebook say?” (as you scramble for your old college textbook on management only to find that it is useless).

The “Talk” progresses and you find yourself thinking, “What if she resigns?” What then? It took me so long to find her!”

Then it’s over, and you got your concerns off your mind and onto her plate. All of a sudden, you’re in one of those “up” moods that so many entrepreneurs typically vacillate between. All is right in the world.

Or, you blow it! The employee turns the meeting around and voices her opinions about your management style, company, and (horror of horrors!) product.

Just remember --- it’s only a product. It’s neither you, nor is it your son or daughter or wife. Unfortunately, most first-timers take criticism of their business or products as criticisms of themselves. And you cannot do this. You just can’t.

And if you do, well, then you’re on the road to full madness in less than a year because there is always someone who doesn’t like something about you, your products/services, and/or your company.

Let these criticisms simply bounce from your flesh. I’ve not yet seen any employee take a swing at his employer (Oops! Take that back -- yes, I have!). And if he or she does, it’s time for you to prosecute, and to the fullest extent of the law.

For a “Talk,” you should get a “Wolf” badge. “Talks” aren’t really that hard. The good news is that you grew. And, you grew much. You will never repeat the mistakes you made in your very first “Talk.”

Your first “I quit”

Oh, how I remember this day. His name was Eugene. And he was a programmer. He was the very first person I ever hired. The year, I think, was 1972.

Like so many first-time entrepreneurs, I hired Eugene because I already knew him. We first-timers don’t really get very creative in finding our early employees. We generally tend to hire people who fall right into our laps. I think this has something to do with omens, and the like. I really do.

With Eugene, I already knew his mother. I had worked with her when I was getting my advanced degree at Pitt.

Eugene was a garden-variety programmer. Nothing special and very little real-world experience.

But that was fine with my partner and me since cost was our number one concern. Whomever we hired, he had to be “cheap!”

Eugene turned out to be less than stellar. As I would learn repeatedly in my business career, his advertised “goods” far exceeded reality. When we interviewed Eugene, he could write mountains of code in mere days. Instead, it took mountains of days to write one, single line of code.

Nonetheless, he was ours. And, he was better than nothing.

We piled the work on young Eugene. I had no way of seeing that he was stressed. But he was. Part of that came out the day he broke out in shingles. I remember my brother (a physician) telling me that this was related to the nervous system. Should have been a clue.

One day, Eugene failed to come to work. Nor did he call. On the second day of absence, we called him and, probably not much to my surprise, his mother called back to tell me he had resigned his position. Could she please have his last check and personal possessions?

I was devastated. How could anyone quit ME? I was the greatest employer in town! I cared about my people. This was absolutely unacceptable.

It led to some serious recriminations – unfortunately between me and Mrs. Eugene. I was more upset that someone had walked away from my business than I was with the fact that the work wasn’t getting done. I took this resignation very personally.

It took me years to get over people quitting my companies. I’m totally embarrassed to relate a story about a salesman who walked into my office, criticized my management style, and handed me his keys and security card. I’m embarrassed because I ultimately hit this guy with a forearm when I happened to “run into him” in the men’s room. I was young, impetuous, and very angry whenever someone found my company less than perfect.

Those of you who have lived through resignations probably have felt the same way. Remember, in an entrepreneurial venture, it’s very, very personal to the entrepreneur/owner. At least, in the first decade, I think.

Those of you who have handled resignations with grace and aplomb, give yourself a “Bear” badge for you have shown decorum and probity. Moreover, you’re probably a damn good manager.

Your first “fire”

This is the three-bagger. I doubt there’s anyone reading this article that cannot recall the minutest details of his or her first termination.

It all seems so easy when you watch the sitcoms when you’re young. “You’re fired,” says Lou Grant, Mary Tyler Moore’s boss, after which he shoves a big cigar in his mouth. What power! If only this were true.

The reality is quite different. People agonize for days, weeks, and even months before terminating someone. You think you go into “rationalize” mode when you’re buying a car or other big-ticket item? That’s nothing compared to rationalizing why you should keep someone who everyone knows is not pulling his/her weight.

And yet, we all do it. We say to ourselves, “I don’t even want to go through the process of replacing (“fill in the blank”) or, “I know he annoys the hell out of everyone and his work is sub-standard, but hell…he knows where every single document we use is filed/stored. Who is going to pull these documents from thin air when he is gone?”

Or, “Yeah, she has a rotten attitude, but our biggest customer really likes her. What happens if we fire her and they quit us?”

The truth of the matter is in the immortal words of ex-Steelers football coach, Charles Henry Noll. Chuck Noll had a saying about retirement and it went like this; “If you’re thinking about retiring, then you already have.” How true.

And so, the axiom fits like a brand new suit…if you’re thinking about firing someone, then it must be done. You have already weighed all of the ramifications in your mind and the answer is clear.

The actual termination itself is probably the most tense business scenario. I once fired a guy who told me that he would be “back with his M-16.

I did and he was.

When my receptionist called me, I calmly told her to get under her desk and lock the door. (Not necessarily in that order.)

If you want to see a terrific movie about terminations, watch the new George Clooney film, Up in the Air. No film have I ever seen that depicts the anxiety and discomfort of a termination better than that film.

And, of course, you’ve got to do it right. A lengthy phone conversation with your attorney is a must. So is an in-room witness (preferably packing a 38…just kidding!).

There’s very little room for error with a termination. And remember, this is a human being who has just been told that he or she has little or no value in your organization. Frail egos have a very difficult time with this realization.

This is why it is perfectly okay to soften the blow…even to the point where small untruths might be warranted. You know, “You did a great job, but it’s the economy.”

Just be careful that you don’t oversell the soft-sell. This could lead to more trouble than you could imagine.

For those of you who have come through multiple firings, please feel free to take a “Wolf” and “Weblo” badge (or two). You’ve certainly earned them.

Firing never gets easier. I wish it wasn’t part of business. But it is. Never forget that your termination of an individual is at least 50% your fault. You mis-hired in the first place. You didn’t use the modern tools (Wonderlic, Predictive Index, behavioral interviewing) and you probably, somewhere along the way, took a shortcut.

And, of course, you may have skipped a step or two in training. So many failed employees end up on the scrap pile because they were poorly trained or not trained at all.

So, there you go…badges. Stinking badges.