I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately… How many leaders, business owners, or managers lose their best people — not because of money, opportunity, or loyalty — but because they made their top performers feel… tolerated? Think about it. You build a team. You watch someone rise up. They deliver results. They sacrifice weekends and time. They carry your brand on their back… And somewhere along the way, you stop seeing them as a person and start seeing them as a position, or worse, and Expense. You tolerate their quirks. You tolerate their requests. You tolerate their questions. But you never honor their impact. And eventually… they leave. Not because they’re ungrateful. Not because they want more money. But because being tolerated slowly erodes every ounce of trust and loyalty they had. If you lead people — in business, on a team, in your home — ask yourself: Am I truly valuing the people around me? Or have I started to just tolerate them? If you dont know, ask. Be open to honesty and be prepared to possibly get your feelings hurt. Whatever you do, do not get defensive.  Since I’ve be been posting a little more openly about why I left my 20 year career in the family business, I’ve had an outpouring of private messages and conversations with many other high performers who are feeling the same way that I felt. My encouragement is that they have open conversations with the people making them feel like they’re being tolerated. So, ask. Because high performers aren’t usually chasing a bigger paycheck… They’re looking for a place where they’re seen, valued, and called higher. Don’t wait until they’re gone to realize what they brought to the table. Leadership isn’t just getting people to perform. It’s creating an environment where people WANT TO perform, and Stay.