# "We can't afford to lose you here"

## This week's cartoon

![Cartoon: a manager pats a stuck employee who has five filled gold stars on the desk, while a happy peer with glasses walks away carrying a box with a PROMOTED clipboard showing three and a half of five stars. Manager says, "We can't afford to lose you here."](../../img/cartoons/praise-was-the-blocker.png)

> _The praise was the blocker._

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### Glossary · *retention paradox*

**Retention paradox** is being held in the current seat because losing you there costs the team more than promoting you. Praise and comfort rise while level stays put. The company is investing in your presence in this role, not in your next one.

The tell is the line that sounds like an honor. We cannot afford to lose you here. That sentence protects the desk and freezes the path. A peer who is merely fine can move because the seat can spare them. You stay because the seat cannot. Score warmth and progress as two different things. Ask for the next step with a rough date. Warmth without a date is retention of the seat, not advancement of you.