What do you feel when a person leaves your team?
Relief?
Pain?
When it’s the former, that means you likely failed to act on freeing yourself of them (while freeing up their future for something better, too) long ago. But that’s not what I want to write about today.
Let’s talk about the painful departures. People you would want to fight for; but it is too late, they already made up their minds. People you have no idea how to replace and weren’t prepared to see depart.
Most of those regrettable departures are ALSO a sign of something you should’ve done a long time ago (before their mind was made) and didn’t act when there still was time.
So what are the reasons A-players leave? Sometimes, it’s something out of your control – a family situation, health, or an irresistible offer (although, you can do a LOT to increase people’s resistance to outside offers). More often than not, though, it comes down to one, or a combination, of the following big three:
1) Lack of vision
Barry Conchie on a webinar I attended said: “Who wants to follow someone who goes nowhere?” If the vision is not clear, and the purpose is not set, there is no means to measure progress to the goal. Hence, there is no sense of winning, the best people become bored, demotivated and ultimately leave. They are likely to jump at an opportunity that provides them with a sense of purpose and will abscond with an eagerness that may surprise you.
2) Dead weights
Who are the people they work with, or who work for them? Are they also A-players? If not, they are dead weights on the team, B-s and C-s, especially the “Sacred Cows” (SC). SC’s are the team members we know is not the right fit, don’t have the performance or the culture fit that we would like to see from everyone, but that we feel (it’s always a feel, never a reality) we can’t let go for some reason beyond our control. These team members eventually drain energy even from the most dedicated go-getter, and lower the performance standard for everyone.
3) False authority
Were they given exciting goals, but then they were slowly and silently stripped of the necessary tools and authority to achieve them? Were they promised a budget or team pre-hire that is suddenly not available anymore? Did the CEO’s support for them suddenly disappear and they were left to fight internal battles on their own, without the tailwing and air cover?
Have you ever left a position you were made for, and what were your reasons?
How do you ensure your best people don’t feel any of the above?
