There was a phase in my career when someone on my team looked completely checked out.

Low confidence. Low energy. Bare minimum effort. Not because I believed they were incapable, but because there was growing pressure to “take a call” and move on.

You know how it works. Timelines. Expectations. Reviews. The unspoken push that says, this is taking too long.

That is when I paused and asked myself something uncomfortable.

Is this why we are made managers? To decide who stays and who goes the moment things get hard?

The easy thing would have been to go with the flow. To say expectations are clear, the role is demanding, and outcomes matter. All true. All convenient.

But something did not sit right.

What if this person is not incapable, just overwhelmed? What if it is not a lack of intent, but a lack of belief? What if the problem is not effort, but environment?

That pause changed how I lead.

Instead of focusing only on output, I focused on understanding. Instead of pressure, I worked on clarity. Instead of assuming disengagement, I created space to rebuild confidence.

Things did not change overnight. But they changed. Slowly, steadily, visibly. The same person who once looked disconnected started showing ownership and judgment. The potential was always there. It just needed the right conditions to surface.

This experience also changed how I look at Gen Z. We often say they are impatient, disengaged, or quick to give up. But many of them are navigating their first real failures in a workplace that expects instant maturity and performance. They are not asking for shortcuts. They are asking for clarity, feedback, and a fair chance to grow.

Most leaders today are millennials. We want speed. We want results. We want people to get it right immediately. And in that rush, we forget something important – None of us became who we are on our own.

In our early days, there was someone who believed in us when we were still figuring things out. Someone who corrected us without discarding us. Someone who gave us time.

That belief shaped us.

BE THAT PERSON FOR YOUR PEOPLE.

If someone reading this learns it sooner than I did, that alone makes this worth writing.

Because leadership is not about quick exits or perfect performance. It is about knowing when to hold the line, and when to hold the person.

And years from now, when the people you lead today become leaders themselves, the real question is this.

Will they want to lead like you did?

That answer is your legacy.

About the Author

Abhijeet Prasannan is a Manager – HR Business Partner at Collabera, bringing more than 10 years of experience in shaping people, culture, and leadership capability. He believes sustainable results come from investing in people before expecting outcomes.