Written By: Lauren Howard
“Do you hate me?” She stammered as we got on the phone. She had just put in her notice for the job that I had created for her.
The line was silent.
I needed to choose my words carefully, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t. They just flooded out.
Hate her? Lordt no. I was more proud of her than I had been of nearly anyone else ever.
She had taken a job that was outside of her field because it was the right thing to do for her and her family. She needed an income. They needed to set up their life in a new city with a new house and a new community and, well, all of that required money.
The job she was supposed to have didn’t come through, so she was scrambling. I knew she was smart and she could learn, so I made one for her.
And for a year, she learned. She grew. She adapted to a totally new environment. She put aside everything she knew. She created processes that were better than anything that I had ever thought of. Oh, and she impressed me every day.
Then the dream job called. The one with the salary and the responsibilities that she had trained for.
And she took it, like she should have.
And I could not have been prouder.
“Hate you? What? Never. Not every role is a forever role. I’m proud of you for finding your place even if I’m going to miss you like crazy. I’m glad that I got to give you a place to stretch while you figured out everything hard about your life. I could never hate you. I will never stop being proud of you, though.”
Celebrate when the right next move for that person is out rather than up. Sure, it stings, but keeping someone in a job out of perceived loyalty rather than what's best for them is not leadership.
Replacing her sucked, but we trained someone once and we could do it again. And we did it better because of what she built.
Celebrate the journeys of your people, even if they don’t include you.
Founder & CEO at elletwo