Loyalty. To Who and What It Should Be.

Loyalty. A big word, with strong meaning. If asked to explain it, I’d say it’s the outcome of time and effort building TRUST. And maybe much much more.

What does the word Loyalty really mean as it pertains to employment in an organization?

On the one hand, the expectation is that if an employer does the right thing by you, providing you with a job to do, a relatively decent environment to work in, and a paycheck…then you’re set… you should be loyal to that company.  But, if it’s that simple why is the youngest generation in the workforce, Gen Z, so removed from that concept? And what has that concept of loyalty done for (or to) prior generations- Baby Boomers, Gen X and even Millennials?

I think about the leader I reported to at a previous company a decade ago who had poured his heart and soul into his work for years, was quite emotionally intelligent and well-liked by his staff, the business, and even his boss. He was creative, articulate, and quite brilliant. In a word, effective.

Eleven years into his tenure he got folded under a peer then terminated by the same boss who he worked tirelessly for, championed and protected. It was devastating for him, the “Golden boy” as they called him, to have fallen so far from grace to be sabotaged and tossed aside.

Although I’d left the organization a few months prior, I was shaken. How could such a thing happen to someone like him, someone so good, and so true to the mission? How could the work of a great leader be so easily dismantled, and then dismissed?  I suspect that his severance package mattered little to him compared to what it did to his confidence and sense of self-worth.  Even in the case of a “layoff” or a RIF that includes many others, you don’t easily recover when you undying loyalty is un-reciprocated. Your faith in the “deal” is shaken and you can’t help but become bitter.

In another organization, I watched a seasoned C-suite leader whose life’s mission was to grow and transform the company for 3 decades, consistently putting the organization’s needs ahead of his own, often missing family events, working endless nights and weekends, and always sacrificing for the demands of his role.

Through recessions, economic turmoil, strikes, COVID and other precarious situations he built an IT team from inception to close to 1,000 employees, rallying them behind a company’s mission to improve the lives of an underserved population. He led with stoicism, staying the course when things were tough, leaning in to move the mission and his team forward, embracing greater challenges. All in the name of doing the right thing, for everyone.

After over 30 years of service was he given a heroes’ send-off into retirement?  A grateful 21-gun salute for all that he had done? Not at all as his exit was quite uneventful with a few empty speeches, some token gifts, and nothing of a commitment to protect his legacy.  Words yes, but the actions were much louder. Another case of un-reciprocated loyalty.

When one joins a company, naturally one wants to learn of the mission, follow a strong vision, and be part of the change that makes the company achieve greatness.  Over time, the reality begins to sink in that while you may enjoy what you’re doing, will the work you’re doing really matter to the company in 10 years, 3 years or even next year?

As the stories of these men illustrate, no matter how much you’ve achieved, there is no guarantee your legacy won’t be blown to the wind.  No assurance you won’t enjoy the privilege of leaving with grace that you so richly deserve. No guarantee that your long-time loyalty will be reciprocated.

What I learned seeing these two great leaders and their work so breezily discarded was how naïve I was to expect such reciprocation. I realized that I had bought into the myth of corporate loyalty to employees perpetuated in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s by benevolent, paternal organizations offering “employment for life” during a time of growth and prosperity. That was, until the late ‘80s when profit pressures led to the first mass layoffs that revealed where the true loyalty of companies lay… the owners… the shareholders. While many from previous generations still cling to that myth, it is human nature to long for that connection, for recent generations the era of forever loyalty to an organization is long gone. Their attitude is “I worked. You paid me. We’re even.”, a bi-weekly exchange of loyalty.

That leaves us with the reality that you matter so much less to the companies that you’ve worked for, than to the people whose lives you touched and have been touched by in that time.

Loyalty, to me at least, should be to the people who give you their time, their attention, and their best effort, each and every day. It’s to the people that carry the mission, to the ones who show up instead of cashing in the sick day, the personal day, and even the weekend day because they knew what was needed.

Loyalty goes to those who cared to do what’s right, even when it was 10 times harder than doing what’s easy. To the ones who defended you when you weren’t in the room, and went the extra mile to find a solution when none was in sight.  To the people you bring along the journey with you, the ones who carry the torch forward, with or without you, after you’ve lit it.  To those who have earned and who protect the trust you have with and in them.

And when everything is gone, all the systems that were built, the projects that went live, the services that were designed, and the customers and even companies that came and went…all that’s left to cherish, is the loyalty of the people. They’re the ones who matter in the end.

The ones who will call to check up on you long after you’ve left. The ones who still tell tales of the great things you did with them. The ones who give you credit for investing in them, and helping them start or progress their careers. The ones who embody your legacy in how they interact with others, and regenerate the same spirit you cultivated with them in others.

Loyalty, like trust, is earned, not guaranteed. It takes a lifetime to build, and a moment to vanish.

My advice is to make sure your loyalty is to what really matters.