The High Cost of Promotion Without Preparation

This week, I met with someone whose story perfectly illustrates one of the most expensive mistakes organizations make: promoting people to leadership roles without preparing them to succeed.

This person is a top performer who genuinely lives out their company's published values. In every interaction, whether with a customer or coworker, they represent the organization with pride. They don't just meet expectations - they raise them.

But their story reveals the hidden cost of promotion without preparation.

When Good Intentions Create Bad Outcomes

Their manager had been promoted out of necessity, not readiness. The role the manager came from required little collaboration or accountability, and they were handed a leadership title without the training to match it.

The warning signs appeared quickly. Instead of addressing poor performance directly, this unprepared manager sent out team-wide emails about "issues" that were clearly tied to one or two individuals. She thought these messages were addressing the problems, but they were actually a lazy way to avoid difficult conversations.

Meanwhile, the low performers who were causing the issues continued their poor behavior unchecked. The manager's reluctance to have direct accountability conversations meant problems festered while good employees watched standards erode.

The result was predictable and expensive. The responsible employees ignored the vague hints in the emails, while the high performers grew frustrated watching colleagues get away with substandard work. The blanket messages felt generic and unfair to those doing their jobs well.

Over time, respect for the manager eroded. The team began to lose trust, and one of its best members started planning an exit - not from the company, but from that manager's reach.

Fortunately, this person's loyalty to the organization ran deep enough that they sought a transfer rather than a resignation. If their values hadn't been aligned with the company's, leadership might have lost one of their most effective ambassadors.

That's the quiet cost of promotion without preparation. When accountability disappears, so do the people you can least afford to lose.

The Expensive Reality

This story plays out in organizations everywhere. A new manager gets promoted without proper preparation, and within months, good people start leaving or transferring out. Sometimes it's the manager who leaves when they realize they're in over their head.

Either way, the pattern tells the same story: longevity after an unprepared manager is introduced speaks volumes about leadership quality.

Companies that track turnover data know this truth - whenever weak leadership enters the picture, talent hemorrhaging follows. The cost isn't just replacement and training. It's lost institutional knowledge, damaged team morale, and the time it takes to rebuild what poor leadership destroyed.

Why This Pattern Repeats

Directors and senior leaders often focus on outputs while missing the real indicator: whether their managers are developing people or driving them away.

Too many new managers are handed a title with little training. They're expected to lead without learning how to coach, build trust, or hold others accountable. That gap shows up as turnover, disengagement, and a team culture that repels high performers.

The warning signs are clear if you know where to look:

• Good people requesting transfers shortly after a new manager arrives

• High performers becoming disengaged or uncommitted

• Team productivity declining despite individual competence

• Talent choosing to leave rather than deal with poor leadership
  
  

The Real Cost Calculator

If a manager's team produces adequate work but consistently loses good people, that's not success - it's an expensive failure in disguise.

Consider the math: Replacing a quality employee costs 50-200% of their annual salary when you factor in recruiting, training, lost productivity, and team disruption. Now multiply that by the number of good people who leave because of weak leadership.

A Different Approach

Leaders who oversee managers should be asking questions that go beyond performance numbers:

Who on your team could you groom to take over your position someday?

Who have you recognized as having the most leadership potential?

Who needs more one-on-one development time to strengthen specific skills?

These questions shift focus from productivity to progress. They reveal whether managers are developing people or simply managing tasks.

Real leadership means building successors, not followers.

The Bottom Line

The most expensive decision a company can make is promoting someone to leadership without preparing them to succeed.

If you're ready for your next role and want to avoid becoming another cautionary tale, the Team Building Blueprint prepares you with the leadership skills that keep top talent engaged and teams thriving.