Great Managers, Failing Leaders: The Leadership Void in the U.S and the Holistic Solution

Every year, U.S. employers invest billions in onboarding and training new employees. In 2024 alone, with over 8.14 million open positions, the estimated training spend surpassed $40 billion. Despite this investment, the average tenure for workers over 25 remains just 2.8 years. What gives? While it's tempting to blame a younger workforce for lacking loyalty or grit, the real issue may lie elsewhere: in the gaping absence of leadership development across both education and business.

Companies spend a considerable amount on management training, yet leadership training is scarce and often ineffective. This oversight affects not just corporate performance but employee engagement, retention, and even well-being. Without authentic leadership, the workplace becomes a revolving door. 40% of employees cite poor management as their reason for leaving. But is it really "management" that's lacking, or is it something deeper?

There are key differences between managers and leaders. Managers oversee processes, including budgeting, policies, and logistics. Leaders, on the other hand, set vision, energize teams, and inspire forward movement. While both skill sets are essential, they’re rarely developed together. The result? A workforce full of capable managers who struggle to inspire, and visionary thinkers without the operational tools to execute.

Imagine the difference in personal finance: a manager handles bill payments and spreadsheets, but a leader rallies the family toward a dream vacation. Both use the same funds, but one fuels vision and buy-in. As Cavallari said it best, "The goal of any leader is to get as many people living the vision as possible."

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 400,000 business degrees are awarded annually in the U.S., more than any other discipline. And yet, leadership training remains an afterthought. An analysis of top-ranked universities shows that the vast majority of coursework focuses on finance, law, and operations. Only Wharton offered a single course with a curriculum anchored in vision and inspiration.

Leadership, unlike management, is difficult to commodify. Most training is either prohibitively expensive (Wharton’s $20,000 program) or brief and surface-level (Disney’s 6-hour course for $499). Even when companies invest in leadership training, data show that managers often revert to old behaviors soon after. Clearly, the issue isn’t just access, it’s sustainability and integration.

Leadership, or its absence, has ripple effects far beyond the office. A lack of leadership at work contributes to stress and dysfunction at home, creating a feedback loop of dissatisfaction. Research in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology shows that employees of servant leaders experience more positive spillover at home and less work-family conflict. The reduced conflict at home leads to more engaged and productive individuals at work!

Ironically, the fixation on measurable management outcomes may be undermining both employee engagement and the very profitability it seeks to protect. It’s time to flip the script.

Change must begin early. Holistic education, which addresses physical, intellectual, emotional, and social (PIES) development, can foster balanced and mindful leaders. Such education prepares individuals to lead with empathy, purpose, and vision. Applied to leadership, this model promotes:

• Physical wellbeing: reducing burnout and absenteeism

• Intellectual growth: fostering curiosity and adaptability

• Emotional intelligence: enabling conflict resolution and resilience

• Social health: strengthening collaboration and trust

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The etymology of “vocation” stems from vocatio, a calling. Leadership is not about title or tenure, but about the willingness to answer that call and inspire others to do the same. The data is in, the failures are clear, and the moment to reimagine leadership training is now.

We’ve spent decades training people to manage. What we need are leaders. Without visionary, emotionally intelligent leadership, our workplaces, homes, and communities remain stuck in cycles of disengagement and inefficiency. A new approach, rooted in holistic development and driven by purpose, can change that.

It's time to stop managing the status quo and start leading into the future