Few months ago, Rohit accidently met me at the Delhi airport, and we are delighted to see each other after many years. I could sense from the conversation that he is worried about something. On enquiring, he told me about his colleague Ram.

Do you know- There are journey’s that needs to be admired & appreciated. Ram extraordinary rise in his organization is one of those admirable journey’s. Do you know, it only took him five years to become Deputy Vice President from rookie Assistant manager? His story is one such story spoken and talked across the organization. Here is the thing, during the time of recession which arguably the most difficult time for many in the corporate world, Ram stood firm despite the job loss for a brief period. When asked the mantra behind his success, he always attributed to the support he got from his family. In his own words, whatever he is today is because his family.

It’s not that he didn’t face hurdles on his way, but then he successfully overpowered all of them. But like all fairy tales, demons make appearances & ensure their presence. In last 6 months, Ram performance has been deteriorating and despite all supports from the organization, he is not able to stand management expectations. Many were left for guessing. Ram’s performance became the topic of discussion within the organization. It is because of lack of skills, ego, attitude, or arrogance? No one know the exact reason of decline in performance of Ram.

Rohit (Ram’s manager) was shocked as he couldn’t accept deteriorating performance of Ram. Over the years, Ram was his man Friday, significantly contributing to his team success and his professional growth. Ram always took responsibility and was thick & thin with Rohit in the most difficult times.

A happy, jolly laughing and extremely efficient employee has suddenly witnessed drop in performance. His deteriorating performance & constantly reviewed to an extent that PIP has been issued to him. Everyone in organization feels it’s a normal & he must be asked to resign because of poor performance. But Rohit like a true leader didn’t want to let go Ram without knowing the exact reasons of his non-performance and trying to revive his performance.

I was touched by the genuine concern of Rohit on Ram’s non-performance. Leaders like Rohit create new leaders and support organizations in generating employee loyalty at the workplace. I suggested Rohit to meet Ram casually outside office premises and try to know the reasons empathetically. I had a strong feeling that it could be because of some issues in his family and confident that Ram will open up to Rohit in a place away from office.

Rohit called Ram for a meeting in the coffee shop and asked if he is not getting support from the team or feels that he is lacking with skills or is not able to cope with the workload however what transpired after the conversation was a revelation for Rohit.

After half an hour conversation, Rohit understood that everything is fine ta workplace for Ram and just when Ram was ready to leave, Rohit enquired about family and Ram eyes spoke everything. He couldn’t hide his pain and emotions.

Here is the thing, last few months were tough for Ram because of misunderstanding within the family and gradually it started affecting his professional life to an extent that he was not able to concentrate on his work.

On my suggestion, Rohit convinced HR to arrange counselling session for Ram & his family along with a work break of 15 days. He fought with HR for arranging Darjeeling tour for Ram’s family at company expense. Immediately it may have led to gossiping but what emerged post his return from vacation was no less than a magic. Ram was back to his mojo. In just one month again he reclaimed the stardom status in the organization.

As I told you earlier- At times, it’s so easy to throw someone from the organization but great leaders find unconventional methods to revive performance.

This brings to my next but most important point- One always need to care about his personal life. If your personal life is good, you can do a great service to the organization. Ram had all sort of struggles at the job place, but his personal life was at peace which helped him to grow consistently in the corporate world. But when opposite happened, He was virtually asked to leave the organization and his family also left him.

Also, Corporates needs to be sensitive and empathetic towards challenges of employees in personal life and should make an honest attempt to help them in these moments of personal crisis. Ram was lucky to have Rohit as his boss but not everyone will have same luck, so please don’t ignore your personal life in the quest of professional growth because it will come back to haunt you & all the gains made in the corporate world over the years can be vanished in few months.

It’s tough for an individual to keep two lives separately and in fast-paced corporate world, very few are concerned about your personal life or professional growth. It’s you who must drive your growth and happiness.