Leadership Retention: Why It Matters

This is the metric almost everyone tracks but few act on.

Most companies obsess over the front door of leadership development.

Sending managers to training programs. Investing in executive coaching. Rolling out competency frameworks and career progression frameworks.

But while you're focused on developing leaders, you're missing what's happening at the back door.

Your best people are leaving. And your newly promoted leaders are burning out.

Here's what 20+ years in corporate HR have taught me: your leadership retention rate tells you more about your leadership development effectiveness than any engagement survey ever will.

You can promote 10 high performers into management roles, but if 30% of their team members leave within the first year... you don't have just a retention problem. You have a leadership competency problem.

And if those new managers themselves are burnt out, disengaged, or asking to step back down? You've got an even bigger problem.

Leadership turnover isn't just lost productivity. It's also broken promises to the people you promoted and the teams counting on them.

The companies that scale sustainably pay attention to this. They know that while investing in training is a good thing, they also need to understand why leaders fail and why their people leave.

Usually, it's one of these:
→ Your promotion process overpromised what the role would be like
→ Your first 90 days as a manager onboarding was unclear or nonexistent
→ The support didn't match the expectations you set
→ New leaders never got a quick win or failed to delegate

This week, look at your leadership retention rate.

Track two numbers:
1. How long do newly promoted leaders stay in role (without burning out or stepping down)?
2. What's the turnover rate on teams led by first-time or struggling managers vs. your strong leaders?

If either number is concerning, you've got work to do. Not on your hiring strategy. On your leadership development delivery and support.

Fix the leaks before you invest in more programs.

Want to do a leadership audit? Let's talk. You'll leave with your next steps + clarity on where your leadership development is actually breaking down. Click here to schedule a free strategy call.