The Leadership Crisis No One Wants to Talk About
- Joe Boakye
- Sep 28
- 2 min read
Every organization knows it needs leaders. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: most companies are quietly facing a leadership crisis, and very few are talking about it.
It’s not that there’s a lack of talent. It’s that the system for developing leaders is broken.
The Problem: Promotions Without Preparation
For decades, the default playbook has been the same: promote your top performer into management and hope they figure it out.
The result? Brilliant individual contributors suddenly find themselves leading teams without any real preparation and without the skills they need to succeed.
This is not just stressful for them; it’s costly for the business:
60% of new managers fail within the first 24 months (CCL research).
Teams under unprepared managers have higher turnover and lower engagement.
Culture suffers, morale dips, and performance follows.
Why No One Is Talking About It
Leadership failures are rarely headline news. Most companies quietly reshuffle roles, reassign people, or let struggling managers “move on.”
But behind closed doors, HR leaders and executives admit the same thing:
“We can’t prepare managers for leadership roles fast enough.”
The speed of business is increasing, but leadership readiness is not. That gap is widening, and it’s a threat to growth.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
Ignoring the problem has consequences:
Lost productivity: Teams lose months of momentum while managers struggle to learn on the job.
Employee attrition: High performers leave when they feel unsupported or mismanaged.
Burnout: New leaders are overwhelmed, leading to disengagement or resignation.
This isn’t just a people problem. It’s a business problem with a measurable cost.
What Companies Can Do Differently
The good news? The leadership crisis isn’t unsolvable, but it requires a mindset shift:
Invest Before You Promote. Stop throwing people into management and hoping for the best. Prepare them before they take the role.
Focus on the Human Side of Leadership. Leadership goes far beyond strategy and KPIs; it’s about emotional intelligence, communication, and decision-making.
Accelerate, Don’t Overwhelm. Leadership skills don’t have to take years to develop. The right programs can accelerate growth in weeks, not decades.
How Pinnacle Leadership Lab Helps
At Pinnacle Leadership Lab, we built the HumanEdge Leadership Program (HELP) to close this exact gap.
We help emerging leaders:
Build emotional intelligence and self-awareness.
Learn how to make confident, strategic decisions.
Develop the skills to lead and inspire teams before stepping into a leadership role.
Because when you build a strong leadership bench, you don’t just avoid a crisis, you set your company up for long-term growth.