“Don’t take your love away from me
Don’t you leave me in misery
If you go then I’ll be blue
Cause breaking up is hard to do
–Neil Sadaka
The song by Neil Sedaka was first recorded in 1962 and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Sedaka recorded it again in 1975. Without a doubt it was one of his signature songs.
Breaking up. Broken hearts, Lost love. The song encapsulates it all. And it’s time to explore the issue now. But not in the way you may think.
A survey by ADP Canada revealed that two-thirds of employed Canadians or 65 percent, are “ready to walk or leave their office doors.” They are described as “the uninspired”, “the casual daters”, and “the dissed”. While the survey was exclusive to Canadian, the implication is clear- many are ready to break up.
Circumstances will vary from one organization to the next but the reasons for wanting to break up will be similar. While the reasons for a break up might be numerous let’s explore three of them now.
Lack of loyalty/trust
Loyalty and trust go hand in hand and when one suffers it has an impact on the other. People within your organization need to know that you have their back and that you trust them.
As pointed out in the aforementioned article company loyalty has been in decline since the 1980’s. How can any organization successfully move forward with a steady loss of loyalty and trust? As a leader you must shore up the loyalty trust issue. Without it your future is in jeopardy.
Poor communication
Communication is the life-blood of your organization. When done right your people will respond. Your people not only want to be informed of decisions that affect their performance but need to be included in it. If your leadership style is to lead by decrees then this might explain why you have loyalty/trust issues.
Be proactive in establishing clear lines of communication and be inclusive with your team. They will appreciate the inclusion and it will strengthen morale.
Lack of vision or purpose
The buy-in to one’s work is linked to a clearly defined vision and purpose. People deserve to know the vision in terms of where the organization is headed and the significance of their role in seeing it to completion.
If you people are in the dark as to the vision and mission of the organization or if the organization is adrift internally then one’s purpose will be a casualty. A smart leader will keep the vision, mission and purpose clear and before the team at all times.
While breaking up might be hard to do it becomes much easier for your people if there is no loyalty or trust, when communication is ineffective, and when there is no vision or purpose found in being there.
It’s time to evaluate the strength of your organization and reinforce what matters most. Building the type of organization your people would never dream of leaving begins by being the type of leader everyone wants to follow.
Do you find the world a small place? When in Chicago, I worked with people that were not so nice people. When they cause their damage, they jump ship to somewhere else so they wouldn’t have to face the consequences. Well, Chicago is a really small place. So I kept running into those exact same people at other companies. They were there, doing the same things, causing the same damage.
Now with social media and everyone being so connected, these people have their reputations following them — helping hold their feet to the fire and face consequences. The problem now is that reputation can stick for way too long when the person deserving it has long paid their dues.
Thank you for your input, Chris! This is so true. It takes a strong leader to keep this from getting out of hand. It’s best accomplished by an engaged team and mutual accountability. Thank you again!
It takes only one person to wreck a team. This person talks over people, leaves people out of the loop, and always attempts to control the conversation. As long as that person is kept in check the team flourishes.
This is so true, Chris. But on the other hand, it takes a strong leader to keep that from happening. This is best accomplished by an empowered team with mutual accountability. Thank you for your input!