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<v Speaker 1>Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of

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<v Speaker 1>performance through strong human relations, team building, and goal achieving.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host

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<v Speaker 1>Paul Fellavledo.

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<v Speaker 2>Hello everyone, and welcome to this seven minute leadership podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>It's episode three eighty seven, and today we're going to

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<v Speaker 2>talk about a hard truth that every leader will face

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<v Speaker 2>at some point. What to do when one of your

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<v Speaker 2>team members disappears when the going gets tough. And maybe

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<v Speaker 2>you've seen this before. You've got someone on the team

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<v Speaker 2>who always seems to have a mysterious illness or personal

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<v Speaker 2>emergency the moment something inconvenient hits the schedule, an extra shift,

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<v Speaker 2>a big event, a scorching hot day, and they vanish

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<v Speaker 2>again and again. So let's be clear. This is not

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<v Speaker 2>about the occasional sick day or family emergency. We're talking

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<v Speaker 2>about a pattern, and patterns reveal priorities. So let's get

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<v Speaker 2>into that. This isn't a scheduling problem. It's a trust problem.

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<v Speaker 2>When someone calls off to avoid tough work, they're not

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<v Speaker 2>just skipping a shift, they're breaking trust. Your team is

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<v Speaker 2>counting on each other to show up, especially when things

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<v Speaker 2>get hard, and when one person keeps opting out of

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<v Speaker 2>the hard stuff. The message is loud and clear. I'm

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<v Speaker 2>only here when it's easy. So leaders, listen up. Your

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<v Speaker 2>culture gets built around the behaviors you allow. If you

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<v Speaker 2>let this slide, you're not just enabling one person, You're

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<v Speaker 2>showing everyone else that reliability is optional. And here is

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<v Speaker 2>what this does to the team, and who suffers the most.

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<v Speaker 2>The people who do show up, the ones sweating it out,

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<v Speaker 2>the ones working doubles, the ones who feel the weight

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<v Speaker 2>of being dependable, and someone else plays hide and seek

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<v Speaker 2>with accountability. What happens next is incredibly predictable. Resentment builds,

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<v Speaker 2>morale drops, team cohesion breaks down. You can't lead a

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<v Speaker 2>high performance team with cracks like that. Here's the leadership challenge.

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<v Speaker 2>Stop hoping and start acting. Hope is not a leadership strategy.

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<v Speaker 2>You can't hope they get better. You have to address

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<v Speaker 2>the issues. So here's what you do. Step one. Call

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<v Speaker 2>out the pattern, not the person. When you sit down

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<v Speaker 2>with this employee, keep the emotion out of it. Say

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<v Speaker 2>something like, I've noticed a pattern where you've called off

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<v Speaker 2>every time there's an extra event or when extreme weather

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<v Speaker 2>is expected. It's becoming hard for your team. To count

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<v Speaker 2>on you. I want to understand what's going on. You're

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<v Speaker 2>not accusing, you're observing, you're not punishing, You're looking for answers,

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<v Speaker 2>but you're also being firm. Step two set the expectation.

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<v Speaker 2>Make it crystal clear. Reliability is a non negotiable. We

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<v Speaker 2>all have to step up when things get tough. That's

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<v Speaker 2>the deal. We need to be able to trust that

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<v Speaker 2>when the team needs you, you'll be there. Right now

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<v Speaker 2>that trust is not there, what are you going to

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<v Speaker 2>do to rebuild it? This puts the responsibility back where

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<v Speaker 2>it belongs on them. Step three write it down. If

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<v Speaker 2>this isn't the first conversation, document it. Patterns need paper trails.

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<v Speaker 2>Protect yourself and your team by making it formal. If

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<v Speaker 2>the behavior doesn't change, a conversation is a start, but

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<v Speaker 2>accountability needs to be written. Step four. Reinforce the standard

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<v Speaker 2>with the team. When without naming names, remind your team

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<v Speaker 2>that every person is counted on to show up when

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<v Speaker 2>things get tough. Let them know you see their hard work.

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<v Speaker 2>Let them know that it's valued. But also make it

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<v Speaker 2>clear every player on this team carries weight. If someone's

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<v Speaker 2>always dodging the load, they're either going to fix it,

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<v Speaker 2>or they're going to find themselves off the team. So

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<v Speaker 2>loyalty is built in the trenches. Trust doesn't come from

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<v Speaker 2>shared coffee breaks. It comes from shared leadership, from stepping

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<v Speaker 2>into the mess together and knowing the person next to

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<v Speaker 2>you won't run when it gets uncomfortable. So here's the

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<v Speaker 2>big takeaway from this episode. You don't have a team

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<v Speaker 2>unless every member of your team knows how to carry

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<v Speaker 2>their endo the rope. And if someone keeps letting go

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<v Speaker 2>of their rope, they're not part of the team. Their aliability.

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<v Speaker 2>Leaders don't just manage schedules, they protect the integrity team.

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<v Speaker 2>So don't look the other way, address it, set the standard,

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<v Speaker 2>and lead with backbone. This has been the seven minute

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<v Speaker 2>Leadership podcast and I thank you for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.