Care Enough to Help Team Members Who Are Not Thriving Find a Better Garden

Organizations thrive when team members thrive. And as not every plant is able to thrive in every garden, team members know and can feel it when they are in the wrong garden. This de-energizing force inhibits them and their team from thriving; thus, the organization is less than it could be.

It is natural for leaders to focus only on team members who are thriving. This failure is not only the fault of the team member who took the wrong job but also the fault of leadership in poor orientation, training, or hiring. Perhaps leaders know this and avoid addressing it until they have to.

If we genuinely value and care about each team member and accept the leadership responsibility to help them thrive, then that includes helping them find another garden that may be a better fit. Great leaders demonstrate their caring by valuing each team member’s life. This caring touches the entire team; they know they are in a safe place that values them and even cares enough to help them move on to a better place.

Removing a team member is not enjoyable, and the fear of not knowing how the team member will respond can inhibit leaders from addressing the issue. They are not thriving where they are; leaders need to step up and be the leaders they need to be.

At FS/A, we use the Four Stages of Fulfillment, a framework we developed, to explain why people and organizations behave the way they do. In Stage I Fulfillment, the emphasis is on meeting our primary physical needs. At Stage II, we are learning, growing, and competing. Leadership is about living at Stage III Fulfillment—acting for the benefit of others. Leaders have the responsibility to step up with caring in their hearts, even if it is uncomfortable. Leaders who lead with a caring heart live by doing their best to value others, and the results are usually win/win in time.

How to Lead with a Caring Heart When a Team Member Is in the Wrong Garden

When it becomes apparent that a team member is in the wrong garden, as a leader, take responsibility for this situation, even if you did not hire them. Caring about the individual and the organization’s energy is essential. What is the right balance that honors your organization’s definition of caring for the team members and caring for the organization’s future? Here are some of the steps you can take. What are additional steps that make sense for your organization?

• Note their achievements and how they have contributed to the team. Let them know they have been valued and appreciated for part of their work.
• Specifically, share the performance gap for the job they were asked to do so they can strengthen that deficit or understand that the deficit is something they need to avoid in future employment.
• Let them know they are valued as a person and that retaining them in this position would inhibit them from a future that could be much brighter and potentially lead to living the thriving life they desire.
• Offer them advice and networking opportunities that you could recommend based on their strengths. At the least, offer them the book Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans so that they have a game plan for their future.
• Ask what you could do to help them on their journey. Show them that you care about them and want them to succeed.
• If appropriate, recognize them on their final day for their successes and let them depart with a feeling that they were cared about, cared about enough to support them in finding a garden where they can thrive.

We would love to hear your stories of separations that enabled individuals to thrive and flourish. Please share if you have one….Fritz