If you've worked a day in corporate America, you've seen this mistake repeat itself.

If you've worked a day in corporate America, you've seen this mistake repeat itself.

A great individual contributor gets promoted, and we assume they'll figure out the people part.

Recent Gartner research confirms what most of us already suspect:
Only 38% of employees are satisfied with their manager. And one in four managers would prefer not to be managing at all—up from one in five just two years ago.

That's not a pipeline issue. That's a selection issue. And an 'all of us' issue.

We promote based on past performance, not future responsibility. We screen for results, not for the willingness to coach through failure, navigate hard conversations, or absorb the emotional weight of a team.

You might have been great at sales. Brilliant at strategy. A finance wizard.
But leadership isn't knowing the function.
Leadership is the function.

It's not the reward for being good at your job. It's a completely different job. One that requires its own investment, its own development, and a skill set your best individual contributors don't automatically have.

Incidental leadership is getting the title.
Intentional leadership is treating it like the profession it is—with focus, practice, and dedication.

We can do better. We have to.

Because when we get this wrong, we don't just lose managers. We lose the teams they're supposed to lead.

And that’s kind of the whole point.