The Hidden Cost of Untrained Managers: Why Your Leaders Are Quietly Driving Turnover and Burnout

The Self Care Network
Oct 1
3 min read

By Jenora Ledbetter, Founder & CEO, The Self Care Network LLC

The Executive Blind Spot

When executives think about organizational performance, they often focus on strategy, funding, or innovation. But what drains organizations quietly and relentlessly isn’t always the big picture, it’s the day-to-day decisions made by middle managers.

Managers are the translators of executive vision. They are also the first line of defense against disengagement and turnover. Yet too often, they are left unequipped to lead effectively.

The result? Avoided conversations, chronic burnout, and teams that never quite align with leadership’s goals. These are what I call the Purple Elephants™ of management, the issues everyone feels but no one addresses until it’s too late.

Elephant #1: Managers Who Avoid Hard Conversations

Conflict avoidance feels safe in the short term, but it comes at a staggering cost. When managers won’t address performance gaps, toxic behavior, or broken systems, problems fester.

Employees notice. They disengage. Eventually, they leave.

Research shows more than half of employees cite their manager as the reason they quit. And the cost of replacing one employee can reach up to 1.5x their salary. Multiply that across a team, and you’re looking at a silent drain on both finances and culture.

Elephant #2: Managers Who Burn Out and Take Their Teams With Them

A burned-out manager doesn’t just harm themselves, they infect the entire team.

When leaders are exhausted, emotionally checked out, or constantly firefighting, they lack the capacity to motivate, coach, or protect their people. Burnout spreads downward. Productivity crumbles. Absenteeism rises. And eventually, high performers walk away.

Executives often misdiagnose this as a talent problem or a pay issue, when in reality it’s a leadership capacity problem.

Elephant #3: Managers Who Can’t Align Their Teams With Executive Strategy

A brilliant strategy means little if it dies in the middle.

Executives set the vision, but managers execute it. When they lack the skills to translate executive goals into clear, actionable direction, employees are left confused and demotivated. Misalignment between leadership and staff doesn’t just slow progress, it erodes trust in leadership altogether.

This is one of the most expensive elephants in the room, because it directly undermines your long-term strategy.

What This Really Costs Organizations

Higher turnover and constant rehiring cycles.
Burned-out teams who produce less with more stress.
Stalled strategies that never make it off the whiteboard.
A growing gap between what executives want and what staff actually deliver.

These aren’t minor hiccups, they are million-dollar mistakes happening quietly inside organizations every day.

The Purple Elephant™ Lens

At The Self Care Network LLC, I specialize in naming and addressing these unspoken issues before they spiral out of control. Through my Purple Elephant™ Strategy Sessions and Purple Elephant™ Intensive, I help executives diagnose where managers are breaking down and provide a clear roadmap for realignment.

The result: managers who have the tools, stamina, and confidence to lead well and organizations that save money, retain talent, and actually execute on their strategy.

If you recognize one of these elephants in your managers, you’re not alone, most executives do. The question is whether you’re willing to name it before it costs you more than you can afford.

That’s the work I do every day: helping organizations see and fix the Purple Elephants™ that quietly hold them back.

Join my free executive briefing, “Fix The Manager Problem: How To Stop Turnover, Burnout, and Strategy Breakdown”.

In 60 minutes, I show you how to spot the three managerial elephants early, measure the true cost, and apply a simple diagnostic to realign managers fast.

— Jenora Ledbetter Founder & CEO, The Self Care Network LLC Author of Centering Equity in Your Organization: A Guide to Building Bridges, Not Barriers