How to Prepare High Performers for Leadership Roles

Why High Performers Need Preparation Before Promotion Promoting a top salesperson, engineer, or operations specialist can feel like an obvious reward. But excellence as an individual contributor does not automatically translate into the ability to manage people. The skills that help someone deliver strong personal results are different from the capabilities needed to lead a team. When businesses overlook that distinction, they risk creating what experts call accidental managers: people placed in leadership roles they did not ask for and are not equipped to handle. The trend is linked to souring teams and sinking morale across industries. The training gap is striking. A U.K. study from the Chartered Management Institute found that 82% of workers entering management positions had received no formal leadership training. That finding underscores why a promotion should not rest on individual performance alone: new managers need preparation for the different work of leading others. Test Readiness Before Promoting A strong track record as an individual contributor doesn’t automatically mean someone wants to manage. Promotion decisions can happen quickly, leaving little time to ask whether the person actually wants to lead. Make that question part of the conversation before making a role official, rather than assuming high performance means management is the next step. Leadership calls for capabilities that differ from doing the work well. As Gloria St. Martin-Lowry, president of HPWP, notes, organizations may promote someone for their skill at the job and then expect them to know how to lead the people doing it. A low-stakes assignment gives both the candidate and the business a chance to assess fit before a promotion. For example, ask the person to run a small project or mentor a newer colleague. Pay attention to whether they enjoy developing others, not only achieving their own results. These experiences can help reveal whether leading and supporting colleagues is work they find rewarding. Testing readiness this way makes the promotion conversation more informed: instead of relying on performance alone, you can consider how the person responds to responsibilities that involve helping others grow. Train Managers in Behaviors That Affect Retention A recent BambooHR study found that 90% of employees who quit say their boss influenced the decision. Fifty-eight percent point to their manager’s overall style—such as micromanaging or inconsistency—as the primary reason for leaving. Poor communication and a lack of constructive feedback were also common factors, each cited by over a third of respondents. Those findings offer a practical guide for training new managers. Rather than relying only on a broad leadership curriculum, focus on the behaviors connected to why people leave: Give employees autonomy. Encourage managers to let people do their work without hovering over them. Offer supportive feedback. Teach managers to deliver constructive feedback in a way that feels supportive rather than critical. Make one-on-ones effective. Train managers to hold genuine conversations, not simply run through status updates. These skills help managers communicate more effectively, support their employees, and avoid the micromanagement that can undermine trust. Training specifically in autonomy, constructive feedback, and meaningful one-on-ones targets the management behaviors employees say contribute to their decision to leave. Support New Managers After Promotion A promotion should come with support, not just a new title and a congratulatory email. SHRM research found that 60% of new managers fail within their first 24 months, and nearly half say they’re likely to quit within a year because of work-related stress. Leaving new managers to work it out alone can mean that problems go unnoticed until they’ve had time to affect the manager and their team. Build in a regular way for first-time managers to ask questions and surface challenges early. You could pair them with a small peer cohort of other new managers, or schedule structured 90-day check-ins with their own manager. These conversations help bring problems forward in month one rather than month six, when they may be harder to address. Most importantly, treat promotion as the start of a manager’s development, not the finish line. A high performer may have the skills to excel as an individual contributor, but leading people is a different role. Ongoing support gives them space to grow into it—and gives the business a chance to respond when they need help.