Hi Reader
People do not quit after one bad week. They leave when their week stops giving them a reason to stay.
If you want people to hold the line in 2026, you cannot guess what keeps them. You have to build it on purpose.
Today, I'm sharing four anchors that sit underneath most decisions to stay.
The four anchors that keep people from quitting
When you strip it back, most decisions to stay rest on four things.
Clarity
I know what good looks like this week. I know where my effort goes.
Connection
Someone sees my work and has my back when things jam.
Progress
We can point to movement that matters, not just more tasks.
Fairness
Decisions feel consistent and explained, even when I do not love the outcome.
Most organisations double down on only one of these. They chase “progress” through more projects, KPIs, and dashboards, while connection, clarity, and fairness are assumed to take care of themselves. That is where the gap opens.
Large workforce studies keep finding the same pattern.
People are more engaged and less likely to burn out when they have clear expectations, recognition, and a sense that decisions are fair. Training helps, but these anchors are what actually hold people in the work.
Most “I am done” moments are really a slow erosion of one or more of these. You rebuild them with small systems leaders can run inside the week.
Three tiny systems to try this week
You do not need a new program to start. You need repeatable moves.
For Clarity
The three line update
Use this for any risky shift or change.
What is happening. What could go wrong. What I need.
You can use this in a message, a handover, or a quick huddle. It gives everyone the same picture of risk and what matters now, instead of vague “it is busy, be careful” warnings.
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→ Try this: Pick one upcoming shift that worries you. Send a three line update to your team and your senior. Notice how much faster the right questions surface.
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For Connection
The ten minute check in
Once a week, hold a short check in that asks two questions.
What helped. What jammed.
That is it. No long agenda. No slides. You listen for patterns, not performance.
Even small, specific feedback that says “I saw what you did there, and it mattered” has a measurable effect on satisfaction and intention to stay.
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→ Try this: Book a single ten minute slot this week with one person who carries a lot. Ask only those two questions. Write down one thing you will adjust based on what you hear.
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For Progress and Fairness
The Friday flow check and decision list
On Friday, ask as a team.
What moved easily. What jammed. What is one test we will try next week.
Then back it with a simple decision list. For each change, note what changed, why, and who was impacted. Share a short summary once a week.
It sounds basic. It is also how you build a reputation for fairness. People will tolerate hard calls for longer when they can see how and why decisions were made, not just that something arrived from “above”.
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→ Try this: This Friday, run a five minute flow check with your team. Capture one improvement to test next week and add one line to a shared decision list. Watch what happens to trust when people can see movement.
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📖 Read the full article: What Keeps People from Quitting, and How to Build It on Purpose
Where Hyphae fits
If you are responsible for workforce, culture, or reform, this is the work I sit in every day.
My core focus is helping organisations:
- Turn vague “engagement” into clear anchors that keep people here, not just hopeful
- Build tiny, repeatable systems around those anchors so leaders are not guessing week to week
- Wrap mentoring and leadership supports around real pressure points, not generic competency lists
If you read this and thought, “We need this across our service,” there are a few ways to work together.
- Leadership systems and retention session
A focused session to map where clarity, connection, progress and fairness are strong, and where they are eroding. You walk away with three concrete shifts to trial in the next quarter, not another strategy document.
→ Reply to this email with SYSTEMS and I will send details.
- Executive capacity and workforce audit
A deeper look at how decisions, meetings, and mentoring currently work in your organisation, and where they are quietly driving churn. You get a short, sharp roadmap that links small systems to your workforce risk and reform pressures.
→ Learn more: https://www.hyphaenetwork.com/more-hyphae
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Your reflection for this week
Take five minutes and ask yourself:
→ Which anchor is weakest in my team right now. Clarity, connection, progress, or fairness
→ Is this something I can shift as a leader, or something our system needs help to redesign
If it feels bigger than you, that is a signal to get support, not a sign you have failed.
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Small systems. Real support. That is the work.
Warmly,
P.S. Are you ready for stronger mentoring program. Just for you.
The Hyphae Mentoring Program is opening in early 2026. There are only 20 places. Consider securing your seat early.
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Six months. Six conversations.
One mentor who understands your world.
Structured support for leaders who’ve led reform from the front and want to sustain it.
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👉 Learn more about the Hyphae Mentoring Program https://www.hyphaenetwork.com/mentee
👉 Become a Hyphae Mentor https://www.hyphaenetwork.com/mentor
Need Manager Approval?
If you need approval or funding support, download our short briefing note below. Approvals can take time, so send it this week if you want your place secured before Christmas.
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