Letting Team Members Go
There certainly are times a leader is not able to develop the best in an individual. The subject has to be willing to learn and change, or else no leader, no matter how great, will be able to develop them. The ancient saying still stands true, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” If an individual is unwilling to be taught the teacher will not be able to teach. In this case, the leader must call the shots and redirect that person to either another position within the organization or ultimately let them go altogether. Leaders can tend to be so optimistic that they think, given time, they can turn anyone into a better worker. But it would be a disservice for the leader and for the team to keep someone whose gifts and personality do not match the team’s mission. The best thing a leader can do is replace them so the individual can find a place for their gift in another company that matches their skills.
Not long ago, I was having breakfast with a friend of mine who is the Vice President of a major mechanical corporation. They have progressed from a 24 million dollar a year profit to an 84 million dollar a year company over the last few years. As we talked about the company’s success, I asked what he believed to be a major component of their rapid growth. He quickly and confidently responded that it had been primarily due to replacing existing personal that were not able to take the company to the next level with those that were able to. He made a great statement that stuck out in my mind. He said, “We have simply helped some people in our company propel into the next season of their life.” I thought that was a great outlook to have for everyone involved, not an ending, but rather the beginning of something new.
One of the most destructive things that happen to derail an organization is bad attitudes. If a team member is consistently bringing a negative attitude to those around them and will not respond to correction, the leader needs to let that person go, or it will destroy the morale of everyone else. I have found that many organizations wait too long to let some of their people go. They consider them their project and continue to let them get away with wrong attitudes, low productivity, and conflict within the team. A leader has to be extremely careful not to allow one person to pull the whole team down with them. The other day I read that Shrews, which are small mole-like creatures, have such a ferocious appetite that they are known to eat each other. I know many organizations that have Shrew-like team members who are destructive to each other. They are killing productivity and destroying winning environments because of their attitudes and actions.
Letting a team member go is a very tough call to make since leaders want to see the best in others. However, there is a time when a leader needs to make the hard call for the sake of the team by letting a person go. Just remember what Oscar Wilde said, “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”
