​Loyalty: to Stay True to Someone

A business associate and I were having breakfast when he asked me:
“One of my employees used to be very good and his performance has deteriorated by a lot, what should I do with him?”

“Do you trust this person, is he loyal?” I asked him.

“Yes!” he said.

​“Then you need to find a way to work with him and provide him the tools to improve his performance” I responded.
 
_Loyalty, that once-essential virtue, has faded fast from our society. Today everyone is looking for a quick gratification. Allegiance to others does not exist except to us by selling ourselves quickly to the highest bidder.
 
The dictionary defines loyalty as the quality of being faithful, true, devoted to someone.
 
Yet, when I use the word loyalty I do not use it as obedience or worse, submission; I use it as dependability, reliability, trustworthiness, dedication and commitment. Loyalty means to stay true to someone or something even when other things call attention.
 
Blind allegiance, unquestioned loyalty can lead us down the wrong path, a one-way deliverance of loyalty that could lead to an abusive behavior by the recipient.  We see this type of abuse in cults, gangs, dictatorships and some companies. This is the dangerous unchallenged allegiance.
 
In business, marriage, friendship, family and life, loyalty is really important but must be rooted in strength and commitment. Loyalty must include the commitment to respect each other and the strength to question the actions of both sides.  The commitment of wanting the best from ourselves that allows us to stop and refuse to go in the wrong direction.  Respect is when the other side receives it as a positive critique than a lack of loyalty.  This type of relationship is a 2-way path of loyalty.
 
In our company we value loyalty. It is easier to work with employees or partners with a strong sense of loyalty than high performers with no sense of loyalty.  Those high performers, self-absorbed are like a suppressed volcano prone to burst out suddenly and leaving the rest on their path of destruction.
 
Loyalty is a rare virtue and if we are among the lucky recipients of such we must handle it with a strong sense of responsibility.
 
“So my dear friend, it is important to work with this employee and find out what is the cause of the drop in performance and provide him with the additional tools to improve.”