Before your best team player walks out the door

Paula Rauenbuehler

Guest Columnist

August 10, 2026

Have you ever heard this, or even said something like it: “I’m so frustrated that so-and-so gets out of all the work. They don’t have to work the hours the rest of us do. When I’m asked to come in on my day off, I do it – not for that person, and honestly not even for the business. I do it for my coworkers.” 

I read a version of that on social media recently.

Theirs ran about four times longer than the paragraph above.

My guess is that this person resigns sooner rather than later, because they’re dependable, and dependable people rarely stay that way without seeing the benefit for themselves.

The reliable one

Here’s how it creeps up.

You, the leader, ask Helpful Harry to cover for a teammate.

Harry does it without question.

A few days later, something else comes up, and Harry’s the one you ask again.

Same eager ‘yes.’

Before long, Harry sees what’s happening, even if he doesn’t say so.

Underneath the ‘yes’ is less about pleasing you and more about not letting his teammates down. 

But the weight adds up, and eventually, the willingness runs out, and he’s out the door.

The real problem 

Having eager, willing people on a team is a real asset.

We all need backup on the hard days, and knowing someone will step up makes those days easier to get through.

The problem builds when it’s always the same one or two people – Harry or Eager Eddie or Quiet Keith, and the actual reason for the gap never gets addressed.

That tells the helpers something.

It tells them this isn’t temporary.

And when the extra effort doesn’t lead anywhere – no bigger role, no real recognition, nothing that says this matters – it stops feeling like teamwork and starts feeling like being taken advantage of.

Here’s where it starts.

Say there’s a Jordan on the team, too, hired into the same expectations everyone else has – the long days, the weekends, whatever the busy stretch demands of the whole crew.

Except Jordan’s consistently out of it, and everyone else is quietly covering the gap.

Jordan’s not lazy, exactly.

Maybe it’s never been said plainly that this is part of the job.

Maybe it’s just been easier, every time, to ask Harry instead of having that conversation.

Either way, the team notices.

That rant on social media wasn’t really about workload.

It was about watching one person get a pass that nobody else gets.

Ask the hard question

Two things can help here:

1. Be mindful of who you’re asking, and how often. Spread it beyond Harry. Eager Eddie and Quiet Keith can grow from the same opportunities Harry keeps absorbing alone.
2. Before you make the ask, get honest about why the gap exists in the first place. Is there a real project that needs hands? Is this a chance for someone to build a skill toward more responsibility? Or is this actually about Jordan and an overdue conversation?

Strong teams help each other.

That’s real, and it matters.

But leaning on the same one or two people, while the actual issue sits untouched, has a cost on both ends.

Harry burns out doing work that was never his to carry alone.

Jordan never gets the small, early correction that would’ve made this a five-minute conversation instead of seeing a good team member leave.

Next time you’re about to make the easy ask, pause and ask yourself the harder question first: “Is this really the best person for this, or just the one who won’t say ‘no?’”

Don’t find another Harry 

And if Harry does eventually leave, notice what you do next.

It’s tempting to just find the next Harry.

That’s easier than asking, again, whether the Jordan issue was ever really addressed.