I remember my first big win as a manager. My team had been through a rough patch, but after a year of hard work, we were finally in a good place. On paper, it was perfect. We were crushing our goals and turnover had dropped to zero.
I had a handful of star players I could always count on. They were so dependable, I didn't have to worry, so I started giving them the toughest projects, trusting them completely.
Then one of them decided to quit, which took me by surprise.
During the exit interview, she said she wasn’t angry. No complaints about me or the company. She just said she wasn’t learning anything new anymore. She felt she had mastered her job, and there wasn’t a clear next step.
I thought I was rewarding her by giving her the work she was best at. I thought I was making her comfortable.
Turns out I was wrong. I was putting her in a career cage.
The Silent Traps We Fall Into
When you have a great person on your team, you do a few things without thinking. They feel like smart decisions at the time, but they can be traps.
You Confuse "Stable" with "Happy." Just because someone isn't complaining doesn't mean they are happy. An absence of noise isn't the same as the presence of engagement. People can be quiet because they've already checked out and are just collecting a paycheck while they look for something new.
You Focus on the "What," not the "Where." You're so busy talking about the project (the "what") that you forget to talk about the person's future (the "where"). Your best people don't just want to do good work. They want to go somewhere with it.
You Overvalue "Reliability." The most reliable people get the same work over and over because they are good at it. This makes your life easy. But it makes their work stale. You are getting your job done by stagnating theirs.
Why It Happens
Why do smart leaders fall for this? Because you are rewarded for it. You get a top performer, and your gut tells you to keep them there. You give them all the most important work because you can count on them. You don't want to mess up a good thing. You are rewarded for stability and results, so you double down on what works. It’s a trap of your own success.
The truth is, stagnation is not a reward. It’s a risk. Your best people are not looking for a forever home. They are looking for the next step. The job of a leader isn't just to keep things from breaking. It is to find new challenges for the people who are ready for them.
The moment someone feels they have nowhere to grow, they will most likely start to look for the exit. That’s when the so-called quiet quitting starts. They aren't looking for a way out of work. They are trying to find new work that challenges them.
The Fix
The fix for this isn't complex. It requires a simple mindset shift. You have to stop managing for stability and start managing for growth. It can feel scary to give up some control, but it is the only way to keep your best people.
Here is a simple framework you can use.
1. Ask about their "next move"
This isn't about promoting them. It's about their curiosity. Ask simple questions like:
"What are you most curious about right now?"
"What do you want to learn that you aren't learning in your current role?"
"If you weren’t working on this project, what would you want to be working on?"
2. Assign "Stretch" Work
Give them a small task that is just outside their comfort zone. It should have low risk and high learning potential. It could be:
Leading a small meeting or a specific part of a project.
Teaching a skill to a junior team member.
Taking on a small, defined part of a different project.
3. The Growth Bet
It is a simple conversation. It's you saying out loud: "I want to make sure you're getting new challenges. This might not be easy, but I want to help you get there."
Your job is to make your people valuable, not to just keep them in place. The best way to make them valuable is to help them grow beyond their current role.
The Takeaway
The fastest way to lose a good person is to stop challenging them. It’s not about finding a perfect path for them. It’s about making an effort to show them there is a path at all.
See you next week.