Week 23.17 Let Them Go

This week I was conversing with a friend about the most challenging aspects of life and leadership - letting go of great people. We both consider that we practice a people-first leadership style and that our businesses and lives are built and thrive on relationships. And we also recognized that letting go of great people is one of the hardest things we must do. I don't mean firing them (which is also really hard.) What we were talking about was the moment when our best, favorite, most accomplished, talented employee decides that while they have enjoyed working with us, it is time for them to go. We have invested so much in growing their talent, in making the job fit them just so, not to mention the emotional investment we make in our people. We don't want replaceable people. We want to nurture irreplaceable people.

The intuition is correct - you want to attract the best talent, you can pay them as much as you can afford, and treat them like the royalty they are. I can already hear the voices in the gallery snickering and saying that young people today don't want to work that hard, and treating them like royalty is what they already expect. I cannot speak in gross generalities; I can only speak from my own experience. Young, talented people are gold. Select them well and treat them right. They want to outperform, they want to deliver, and they enjoy success and being valued. Sure, they don't like being told what to do, they bridle against constraints, and they want a good quality of life. They are right. Fresh, well-rested, highly motivated, creative people out-deliver. At 100 Coaches Agency we have an open vacation policy (we don't count vacation days) and must ensure they take enough time off. We want to be known as a great place to work because we want the best talent to want to work here. Treat them with the respect they deserve as talented human beings, and they will reward you. If not, you didn't hire the right people.

The right people want to show up and show off. They want to demonstrate and be recognized for their talent. They want to be part of high-performing teams where they don't stand out but stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other talented people. They want to grow their talent and be more effective. They want the right tools and training. They enjoy mentoring and coaching (formal and informal.) They want responsibility and the ability to push their limits. As leaders, don't we want that for them, also? And isn't that also what is best for our business? By infecting as many employees as possible with this kind of ambition, we can create the critical mass that becomes a multiplier of talent. I have seen this work in small, medium, and large firms. When employees inspire each other, everything works better, smarter, and more effectively. Work feels good, and the business prospers.

And here comes the hard part. You have to want them to move on. That's right - you want to make your place the best place they can imagine working, and then, at some point, you want them to want more for themselves. Hard as it sounds, you want to push them to want more. Of course, you will be able to find growth within the company, but most of the time, people need to grow through change. And when they leave, you want to celebrate the transition and maintain the relationship because they will always be part of your family. Your reward is a pipeline of the best talent that wants to be part of your system because they recognize that you are not only providing a job, you are providing a path for growth.

And as a side benefit, you are contributing to human flourishing. You are supporting the expansion of talented people who push their potential limits and rethink what is possible. They take that expectation with them to the next job and, if we are lucky, infect those employees with new expectations and ambitions. They become leaders in their own right and pass these ideals to the people they lead. When the opportunity arises for the people we love and lead to grow and expand, we have no choice but to celebrate. When we live the values of putting people first, we can create new potential for ourselves as leaders to enjoy the possibility that we can only obtain with an infinite fountain of talent. As hard as it is, when it is time for even our best people to go, we must let them go.

This Philly Author Thinks We Have Resilience All Wrong by Laura Brzyski

Dr. Taryn Marie Stejskal 's The 5 Practices of Highly Resilient People: Why Some Flourish When Others Fold?has been released and Philly Magazine chatted with Stejskal about how she understands resilience, why it has become so misunderstood (and hated!) by society, and the practices people can take whenever they’re faced with challenge, change and complexity. She says the term resilience is being misunderstood and misused. People don’t relate to a lot of the work that’s being done or has been done on resilience because it whitewashes the pain, struggle, and messiness of life. When we don’t give resilience — and our fellow humans — the respect of the gritty, awful, tough reality, it sends the message that people aren’t allowed to fall apart.

Like resilience itself, the three Cs — challenge, change, and complexity — are part of the fabric of being human. Even though the three Cs are inevitable, society has a role in creating an experience that doesn’t necessarily require people to constantly demonstrate resilience. What that post seems to be saying is we shouldn’t have to go through hard things, but my perspective is that we shouldn’t?needlessly?have to go through hard things. Do we need to fix some really broken things in the world, like gun violence in schools and communities? Absolutely yes.

CEOs, Are You Ready To Become Regenerative Leaders? by Nicole M. Heimann

When leading an organization through turbulent changes like climate change, demographic shifts, technological disruptions and instability, CEOs are faced the reality that curing climate change requires a massive overhaul of existing systems and behaviors. It means keeping fossil fuels in the ground, investing in renewable energy, changing the way we consume, protecting biodiversity and restoring nature. While short-term fixes like?new technologies?require less self-sacrifice, treating the symptoms would mean?postponing a disaster. No business will survive in a society that doesn’t prosper.

Regenerative leadership offers a path forward for organizations seeking to create a sustainable future. By focusing on building strong relationships through Leadership Alliances, fostering innovation and incorporating ESG factors into their decision-making processes, regenerative leaders can create systems that are resilient, adaptive and sustainable. As companies like Patagonia and Neste have shown, regenerative leadership is not just a theoretical concept but a practical approach to creating a better world.

Timeless Wisdom: How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen

Clay Christensen was known for many brilliant thinking such as his classic book, The Innovator's Dilemma. There is some wisdom that is timeless, and his "how will you measure your life" is thinking that is worth returning to again and again. In this article he explains how, exploring questions everyone needs to ask: How can I be happy in my career? How can I be sure that my relationship with my family is an enduring source of happiness? And how can I live my life with integrity?

The answer to the first question comes from Frederick Herzberg’s assertion that the most powerful motivator isn’t money; it’s the opportunity to learn, grow in responsibilities, contribute, and be recognized. That’s why management, if practiced well, can be the noblest of occupations; no others offer as many ways to help people find those opportunities. It isn’t about buying, selling, and investing in companies, as many think.

The principles of resource allocation can help people attain happiness at home. If not managed masterfully, what emerges from a firm’s resource allocation process can be very different from the strategy management intended to follow. That’s true in life too: If you’re not guided by a clear sense of purpose, you’re likely to fritter away your time and energy on obtaining the most tangible, short-term signs of achievement, not what’s really important to you.

And just as a focus on marginal costs can cause bad corporate decisions, it can lead people astray. The marginal cost of doing something wrong “just this once” always seems alluringly low. You don’t see the end result to which that path leads. The key is to define what you stand for and draw the line in a safe place.

Grace Under Pressure: Leading Through Change and Crisis by John Baldoni

“John Baldoni has done the world a favor by introducing the language of grace into our conversation about leadership.”?Sally Helgesen, best-selling?author,?How Women Rise, Rising Together, The Web of Inclusion

The book describes three things leaders need to do when change and adversity strike: take care of their people, take care of themselves, and prepare for the future. And they must do it all with a sense of grace – calmly, collectedly, and compassionately.

Grace is a gift we all can share. It illuminates the good that resides in all of us. Grace enables us to act with generosity, show respect, act with humility, and show mercy and forgiveness to all, including ourselves.

With?Grace Under Pressure, his third book on the topic of grace. John hopes you will find inspiration within its pages and joy in its celebration of the "better angels" of our nature.

With love, wonder and gratitude. Scott