What a saint. Seriously, it always felt funny to me when a team member was let go at the behest of one or a few individuals.
Anyway, the way she says this leads me to believe she thinks she is more important than other people.
She's a manager of course she thinks that.
Being a manager is simply a different job function.
It's a mentality. You just need to hire people who are both smart and able to do the job, and can also see that all people are equals.
I'd say everyone's happiness is equally important. I agree that managers are often in a more secure position and can afford sacrificing some of their desires. Generally speaking, they should not need to become unhappy in order to make their own employees happy. Excepting, of course, a CEO who's earned his due and is now taking a $1 salary, and the cash-strapped entrepeneur who's trying to hold his fledgling business afloat and expects future returns.
It's not a bad thing to assume nuance when you read intent.
Both scenarios are possible. A manager could say that all other team members are equally important while also implying that she or he is more important.
She saved the troublemaker by taking a few deep breaths, not the team. She blames the troublemaker for his bad behavior, and takes credit for his good behavior:
> But today he leads a team and triages the troublemakers he once was. Sometimes when you save a troublemaker, you're saving a team they're not yet on.
I understand the need for consultants and managers to brand themselves. She goes a little overboard. She does not acknowledge efforts made by other team members, and barely acknowledges the individual himself for the adjustments he made.
You write, "reforming them to remove that problem is a win-win for everybody". It sounds like you also feel it's possible for one individual to wholly change another.
If that is your meaning, I respectfully disagree. We each make our own choices and face the consequences, good or bad. There is room for guides to help people understand consequences. Mentors and managers do not make choices for individuals. Ultimately, each choice is our own.
There's a big difference IMO between what she wrote and a more realistic rewrite: "Sometimes when you are patient with a troublemaker, you're helping to save a team they're not yet on."