It was a normal Monday until an induction schedule landed in my inbox. The role was still occupied in the system. No resignation. The business unit head hadn’t been told. I knew immediately what this would trigger. My team member in that unit would carry the fallout, even though none of it was his doing. I called the business unit head. We both knew change was coming, just not like this. Not announced accidentally in an email thread.
As someone later put it: “You never know when you’re inducting your own replacement.”
A couple of weeks later, I met my team member in person. I thanked him for always going beyond the call of duty and gave him a certificate and a pair of cuff links, something small, but deliberate.
He said it meant a lot.
He was already interviewing. He’d put down his papers.
We retained him. We didn’t even need to match the offer, he wanted to stay. The gesture mattered. But what mattered more was repairing the uncertainty that entered that Monday morning.
Uncertainty spreads faster than intent. Timing and action decide which one wins.