Project Lead, People Ops Meets Systems Ops

Challenge:
I needed a technician with highly specialized skills for a complex project: building and integrating six vertical Remstar units in a space that was never designed to accommodate them. I asked to borrow a tech I knew had the background — only to be told I couldn’t have him because he was about to be terminated.
The reason? “He asks too many questions and doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing.”

What I Did:
I knew that didn’t line up. This was someone who had helped train me. So I went around his immediate lead to the service director and made a proposal: delay his termination, let me take him for the duration of the project, and I’d prove whether there was value left to salvage.

Within a few days, the issue became obvious: he wasn’t the problem, the environment was. He was being micromanaged into paralysis and punished for critical thinking. Under my leadership, he thrived. The project moved efficiently, and his technical skills were exactly what the job demanded.

I lobbied for a permanent transfer. It wasn’t easy, but eventually, they let him join my team full time.

Result:

• Completed a complex Remstar install under difficult spatial constraints

• Retained a highly skilled technician the company was about to lose

• Proved that leadership style can make or break talent

• Transformed a “problem employee” into a long-term asset

• As of today, he’s still with the company — 15 years later

Tags:
#LeadershipInTheMargins #TalentRetention #OpsAndPeople #RemstarSystems #ProblemSolvingUnderPressure #HumanFirstOps