"Resource" Lost…

Yesterday was the last day for a colleague on my project. He quit because he got tired of not being tasked and wasting time sitting around. About a month prior to his last day, he had contacted the task lead asking to talk, to see if something could be worked out for him to move to a busier project. She never made time to sit down with him. The day he dropped his resignation letter on her desk, she called all upset that he was leaving. She blew it! The time to talk was a month ago!

Leadership Rule #1: Listen!
I’ll say it again. LISTEN! I’m not the first one to say this but I don’t mind repeating it. If she had just taken the time to sit down and listen to Mike, he may have stayed. I have found that sometimes just listening to somebody, letting them get things off their chest and showing real concern for their point of view is enough. Sometimes nothing can be done. Fine. Say that but still listen and try to understand.

Our lead did not listen until it was too late. She didn’t have time or respect or whatever to take 3o minutes and find out why Mike was unhappy. Now he has moved on and she is scrambling to find a replacement.