Dear Leader #0011
Dear Leader,
The more loosely you hold people, the more they'll want to stick around.
There's two reasons employers tighten their grip around people. Either they're afraid of losing them or they're frustrated with performance.
If it's fear of losing them, tightening the grip can look like incentivizing with more compensation or better bonuses. If it's frustration with performance, tightening the grip can look like adding more rules or micro-managing.
Not only do these not solve the problem, they communicate the wrong message about what truly matters. It makes "staying" about material reward and it makes "success" about rule-following. Neither of these contribute to an empowered or liberated culture.
When you lead with open hands, the people in it for the long-haul feel empowered to contribute their best in both the peaks and the valleys, and the people in it for a season feel liberated to transition peacefully when it's the right time.
Love people hard but keep your hands open.
