Not too often you let someone go and they thank you. But happens most of the time for me.

Just let a decade+ long team member go, but it was the right thing… for them.

I try to grow my team beyond my personal benefit.  Of course I want to keep them forever, but only if it’s also right for them beyond a paycheck.

This person was still working well, and their loyalty would have had them working with me forever… and that was the problem.

I could tell they were burning out. That they needed something new to fuel their personal happiness.

We tried a few pivots over the last year, and being in entrepreneurship for long enough you develop a sixth sense to differentiate between what people say and what they feel.

What they said was a never-ending willingness to support the team.

What I could tell they were feeling was the passion was gone.

Usually you can see it better than they can in themselves.  I could literally feel it in their words.

Gave them six months severance, and encouraged them to take the first few weeks to do nothing.

To reset.

To recalibrate their compass of enjoyment.

I told them that I didn’t expect them to be excited now, but they’d be grateful later. Looks like they already are.

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