My thoughts are that leaders need to be strategic about how they work with their teams. It is inevitable that teams will change and trying to keep them the same is not healthy in the long term. A team that has stayed the same for a number of years often goes through massive change...Everyone suddenly decides they are going to go off and do something else. The way this happens is that one of the team will decide to leave and others will say “it isn’t the same anymore” and will begin to make plans to leave too. The strategic leader should be encouraging some movement in the team on an ongoing basis, thus lessening the massive impact a single large change can have. The leader can also approach individuals and request that they slow down or speed up their “leaving” thus helping the whole team. Eg If 2 key people are about to move on at roughly the same time, it would be a good idea to (1) Be informed about people’s desire to move on (2) Have a conversation with these people highlighting their importance to the team and asking if one of them would consider staying on an extra month or two. This way new people can be brought into the team, aligned with the rest of the team (enculturated) before the next change occurs. Of course there will be other times when it makes sense to have both people leave at exactly the same time, so that “there is only a single change” (It can also provide the opportunity to change culture more easily). The leader needs to be mindful of the possibilities and personalities and work with them where possible.

What are your thoughts???