Leadership Gold Part 8 of 10: People Quit People, Not Companies
February 25, 2009 by dr. lam
This is perhaps one of the toughest things to own up to. I like the saying, “People join companies, but they leave managers.” I try to always remember that. When someone wants to leave a job, too often we as leaders just blame the person or the amorphous identity of the organization. However, it might very well be our own fault. Typically, I look at myself to see what I am doing wrong and an exit interview can be very helpful to see whether I was the problem even unwittingly in the calamity.
A leader must have natural skills as a leader that rank above the leadership capacity of those under him/her. A person of a leadership capacity of 8 will not follow a leader who is sitting at a 3. It is the law of respect. When the staff cannot respect the leader, they will leave and gravitate around a stronger leader that can lead them the right way. The law of respect follows the law of competency. When a leader is incompetent or less competent than a staff member, the staff member must per force leave. It is almost impossible to work for someone above you who really should be beneath you. I learn a lot from my sister. She has oftentimes complained in the past (repeatedly) that she could not follow her leader because he/she was simply incompetent. The entire team knew he/she was incompetent but the leader didn’t.
At the same time, I have learned a very valuable lesson on the flip side. When someone is not happy or wants to leave, bless them to leave. Do not try to negotiate a better salary, perks, promise this or that, just let them leave. Even though quality people are great finds when you find them, they are replaceable. That sounds harsh, but it is true. What Maxwell says is that a poor leader will have a very limited pool of people to draw from, but a great leader will have a huge pool of people to draw from. Now, that does not mean that I am not fiercely loyal to my staff. My staff is fiercely loyal to me, and I to them. It just means let people go when they need to go, a hard lesson for me but one that I realize is a truism that must be understood and lived. Also, listening to Rand Stagen give a talk about company life cycles (both depressing and exhilarating), he mentioned that an employee of his was recruited to go elsewhere. He was of course not thrilled with it, but he realized that he could and would remain loyal to his staff that chose to leave. He would endorse him and still stay proud of who that staff member was and would be…even outside the context of his company. I hope my staff never leave me, but if they do I won’t put up a fight. I will bless them on their way if they have better opportunities than what I have to offer them.
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7 Responses to “Leadership Gold Part 8 of 10: People Quit People, Not Companies”
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This post has given me a better understanding of that leadership capacity scale that you are talking about. I think there is some truth in the fact that someone may quit a company because s/he is at a higher level on the leadership scale than the boss. I don’t necessarily think it’s always the boss’s fault though when someone leaves. It could just be that they weren’t meant to work in the same environment. That’s a very interesting theory. Thanks for bringing it up!
I think I need to start a Dr. Lam fan club. lol
I think there is one on FaceBook. Something like a fan club or group for LFP.
yes, we have an FB page! also, i totally agree heather. i think many times a staff member does not have the right fit for an organization. i always say the first 3 months, we are just “dating” and not “married” yet. however, if someone has been there for a while and they leave, i want to make sure it was not my fault in an unstated way.
Cool, you already have a fan club! {:^) Figures!
Very good point you made there, Dr. Lam. (-:b
i like the creative emoticons /;>]
I like the “dating” and “married” analogy. It may take a while to find the right fit – and even that may not be forever. But if you want someone to be happy, you need to let them go if that’s what they want later on – even if it means the end of the “marriage”.
yes. glad you got something out of it!