Let Them Go
- Robert de Loryn
- Jun 9
- 2 min read
Most companies panic when good people leave.
They treat resignation as betrayal. They call it a retention failure. They quietly resent the person for choosing a different path. Then, when that same person wants to return years later with broader experience, sharper skills, better judgement, and a stronger commercial lens, the organisation hesitates.
That is short sighted.
Great leaders understand something many companies still resist: sometimes people need to leave to grow.
Not every career can mature inside the same four walls. Sometimes people need a different industry, a tougher boss, a larger system, a smaller team, a bigger risk, a failure, a new market, or a fresh commercial reality to become the leader they were capable of becoming.
The controversial truth is this: losing people is not always the problem.
Losing the relationship is.
The best leaders do not cling to talent through fear. They build people so well that even when they leave, they remain connected to the culture, the leader, and the organisation’s purpose. Like the prodigal son returning to the father, the return should not be met with suspicion, but with wisdom. They are not coming back as the same person. That is the point.
They return with new skills, new networks, new perspective, and a better
understanding of what makes the original organisation worth coming back to.
Research published in the Academy of Management Journal compared 2,053 boomerang employees with 10,858 new hires over eight years in a large healthcare organisation. It found that boomerang employees outperformed new hires in their initial period after being rehired, particularly in roles requiring internal coordination. That matters because returning employees often bring both external learning and internal understanding.
This is where leadership maturity shows up.
Average leaders see departing staff as a loss.
Great leaders see them as alumni.
Average cultures close the door.
Great cultures leave the light on.
This does not mean every person should return.
Standards still matter.
Character still matters.
Performance still matters.
However, when a strong person leaves well, grows elsewhere, and later wants to return, a wise organisation asks: what do they now bring that we did not have before?
RDL’s top tip is simple: build an alumni mindset.
Let good people leave with dignity. Stay connected. Celebrate their growth. Keep the
relationship alive. Then create a culture strong enough that returning is not going
backwards, but coming back better.
The companies that win the future may not be the ones that keep everyone.
They may be the ones people are proud to return to.
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