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“Why are you leaving? You have played such an important role on our team.”

This conversation is indicative of a leader with a blind spot.

How is it that highly qualified and productive team members leave organizations?

It is very often not about the money or the position to which they are moving. It is about feeling as though they don’t belong and aren’t contributing or valued where they are.

And this is not an employee issue. This is a leadership issue.

As leaders, our job is not only to create “A” teams, but also to develop and value them so they stay for the long term. Replacing a great employee is expensive and time consuming.  The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that it takes 6 to 9 months of an employee’s salary to replace them. These are the costs of recruitment and training. This also includes a level of suspended productivity while adjustments are made.

This is a costly blind spot.

What if, instead of losing great employees, we built greater leadership skills?

One extremely important skill (and the one at play in this illustration) is the ability to be a highly inclusive leader. This is a learnable skill, and, in a recent episode of the John Maxwell Company Executive Leadership Podcast, there are some excellent action steps leaders can begin to practice right away.

Take some time to listen to this podcast (click here). It could, quite literally, save you tens of thousands of dollars and increase your effectiveness as a leader.

As the CEO of Strength Leader Development, Deb Ingino is a highly sought-after international executive mentor, coach, trainer, and speaker. Deb is well versed in global business operations and helps business leaders and their teams to discover and leverage their strengths, so they can create highly collaborative teams that deliver great results. With a refreshingly direct style, and using the Maxwell Method, Deb helps leaders and teams to deliver profitable results. Connect with Deb to learn more about her mentorship and coaching programs to equip you with advanced strategies to elevate your results.