Your Turnover Problem Is Actually a Leadership Problem

Sep 17 / Steve Lowisz

When I walk into a company panicking about high turnover rates, they're always focused on the wrong thing.

They're counting who left. Scrambling to fill positions. Blaming social media trends and younger generations.

They're completely blind to what's actually happening.

Turnover isn't your disease. It's your symptom.

For over three decades, I've watched organizations waste millions on retention gimmicks while their real problems fester underneath. They treat the fever while ignoring the infection.

This is exactly why I developed the Guide, Don't Drive Leadership Framework. Traditional leadership creates dependence. Real leadership builds independence.


The Leadership Development Industry Created This Mess

We've been teaching leadership development the same way for decades. Engagement levels have never been lower.

That should tell you something.

Traditional leadership training has created two toxic extremes. On one side, we teach leaders to manipulate their teams using psychological tricks. We preach "the power of why" but only as a tool to get people to perform.

That's manipulation, not leadership.

On the other extreme, we've butchered servant leadership. Leaders think serving means doing everything for their teams. They remove roadblocks instead of teaching people to handle their own problems.

They're afraid of upsetting anyone, so they let deliverables slide. They avoid conversations about clarity and results.

It's a mess.

Both approaches create the same problem: dependent teams that can't function without constant supervision.

What Happens When Leaders Choose Being Liked Over Being Respected

Here's what I see in organizations every single day: Leaders spending all their time "serving" their teams by doing their work for them.

They're terrified of difficult conversations. Won't discuss behaviors that need to change. Can't make simple operational decisions like remote work policies because they're paralyzed by their need to be liked.

Meanwhile, their high performers are watching this circus.

Either the high performers leave, or their results slip. Either way, they lose faith in their leaders.

We teach leaders to be liked. They should be respected.

The Guide, Don't Drive approach flips this entirely. Instead of driving people to perform through control or codependence, you guide them to develop their own capabilities.

The Metrics Trap That Keeps Leaders Stuck

The biggest fear I hear from leaders? "What happens when I lose employees? I can't afford to lose even one person. I might look bad to my boss because of the turnover metrics."

They're trapped by the very system that's supposed to measure their success.

People will do what is measured. Even leaders.

If low turnover is your metric, leaders will achieve it. They'll keep toxic employees. They'll avoid necessary conversations. They'll optimize for the wrong outcomes.

We overuse metrics without thinking about their impact. We apply the same turnover standards to all roles when they should be different for different positions.

Most importantly, we measure the wrong things entirely.

Every Company Should Have an Immune System


When a leader finally stops being afraid and starts having difficult conversations about behaviors or policies, here's what happens:
Some people get mad. Some may even leave. Others cheer the clarity.

The ones who leave after getting clarity? That's your organization's immune system working properly.
Every company should have an immune system, but most don't. They're so afraid of any turnover that they've disabled their body's natural defense against toxicity.

I talk with leaders about their future. Do they want to be involved in everything, constantly cleaning up after their employees? Or do they want to purge toxic influences and build a team that operates without them?

That's the ultimate test. Can your organization operate without you constantly cleaning up messes?

What to Measure Instead of Turnover Rates


Leadership effectiveness should first be measured against the company mission. Are they moving the ball toward the win?

Instead of counting who left, measure who's moving the mission forward.

This completely reframes the conversation. Leaders stop optimizing for keeping warm bodies and start building capabilities within their teams.

They guide their teams to achieve things they never thought possible, rallying them around a single objective.
When leaders make this shift from managing turnover to managing mission progress, something remarkable happens to the people who were previously coasting on tenure and experience.

Twenty-five percent step up and buy in completely. Fifty percent improve their performance by fifteen to twenty percent or more.
Twenty-five percent leave.

That's not failure. That's your immune system working.

The Guide, Don't Drive Solution


Stop exit interviews. Start stay interviews that force uncomfortable truths into the open.

Stop avoiding difficult conversations about behaviors and performance. Your team is begging for clarity, not more confusion.

Stop measuring retention rates. Start measuring mission progress and capability building.

Most importantly, stop driving your people and start guiding them.
The Guide, Don't Drive framework gives you the practical tools to make this shift. Instead of micromanaging or abandoning your team, you create clear expectations and guide them toward independent excellence.


Your turnover problem will solve itself when you fix your leadership problem. The fever breaks when you treat the infection.

The choice is yours: perpetual janitor or capability builder.

Your organization's immune system is waiting.