I was invited by AskChuka Enterprises ( not real name 😂) to be part of an exit interview panel. Business wasn't going well and they needed to downsize. Before the meeting, I requested the files of the 10 people on an Excel sheet rather brutally tagged 𝗦𝗔𝗖𝗞. Nine were straightforward. But one file bothered me. Let's call him Mide. Mide had been with the company for 10 years and was a star performer for eight. Then, two years ago, something changed. He still delivered, but his work had become tardy and less innovative. How does someone give eight excellent years and suddenly become mediocre? So I asked him: "Mide, you were a star performer for eight years. What happened in the last two?" His emotional response boiled down to one thing: 𝗛𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. After years of giving his best without feeling recognised, he decided to become like everyone else. I understood him. And I told management that organisations have a responsibili...