When talent leaves, you should be excited for them. Many founders get angry. It hurts their feelings that someone chooses to leave. They need to flip their thinking. There are two kinds of employees in the world, lifers and fliers.
Lifers are people who come to your company and stay forever because they love the culture. They are comfortable, and they fit. They don’t feel the need to make a change. They might want to grow, but they don’t need to grow somewhere else.
Fliers are people who come in, suck up everything that you have to offer, give back everything that they have to offer, and then decide they’d like to go do something else. They showed you that you can give people enough structure, love, and support that they can grow and go do something else. You raised that hatchling into a bird that flies. That’s awesome. If they had a great experience, and you have a great relationship with them, they’ll carry a little bit of you out into the world. If they find someone who is great and doesn’t suit their needs, they might refer that great talent, that great client, that great investor, or whomever to you because you treated them well, you helped raise them, and you gave them flight.
