What Tenure Really Says About Leadership
January 22, 2026
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Most organizations live in the land of averages. That is below average, average, or above average.
They are better than bad, because that’s how you go out of business, but they certainly aren’t world-class. However, regardless of what category a company falls into, one of the KPIs that almost every one of them measures is tenure, or, best defined as, turnover.
Typically, tenure is celebrated, and turnover is ridiculed. Low or high turnover shows up on HR dashboards, in executive board meetings, and in culture decks. While there is nothing wrong with this practice, there is a question most leaders never ask themselves:
“What does tenure mean when a company or team performance lands in the land of averages?”
If you find yourself being curious, here is the best way I know how to think about the answer:
If an organization has tenure and is regarded as world-class, it’s a strong sign of great leadership and culture. If an organization has tenure and is regarded as average, it's a strong sign of poor leadership that has made peace with mediocrity.
Now, before you throw stones at me, or get upset, it’s important to note that depending on the size of your organization, there could be pockets that put you in category 1, but overall land you in category 2.
Like most things in life, there is a bellcurve. The performance and level of excellence in organizations or teams are no different. And since the majority of organizations don’t outright fail, most stabilize.
Stability is most often felt in acceptable financial results, functional teams that work well together, steady paychecks, and loyal customers. And while none of these things are negative, they can also normalize the average and no longer require growth. It’s precisely at this point where tenure and turnover quietly lose their meaning. Said differently,
Average systems train people what is acceptable over time, and people rise or fall to the level of the standards.
You could think of it like 10 – 80 – 10
Now I don’t know where your organization or team currently sits on the bellcurve. Some of the location you sit could be perceptions, realities, or simply opinions. So the argument isn’t necessarily about which category you are in; the question becomes: what can leaders do about it?
The answer to that is complicated. On one side of the coin, leaders need time to build culture, get the right people in place, and develop world-class teamwork. On the other side of the coin, finding the right leader is often difficult, expensive, and uncertain, resources many organizations feel they don’t have. And even when a change is made, there’s no guarantee it produces immediate results.
Because of that tension, many organizations default to stability. They stay where they are. And over time, that choice quietly keeps them anchored in the middle of the curve, functional, acceptable, but rarely exceptional. Not because leaders don’t care, but because the cost and risk of moving feels higher than the cost of staying.
Regardless of which side of the coin you sit on, the hard truth is that people adapt to the standards they are surrounded by. They will either choose to raise their skills and habits to meet that standard or choose to go somewhere else that better fits their goals and desires.
So if tenure exists alongside average outcomes, it reflects some combination of what leaders model, expect, inspect, reward, or even tolerate. A good question to ask is, “Is it comfortable here or is it challenging?” The answer might be revealing.
Tenure or turnover is not inherently good or bad. It’s a signal.
When it exists alongside excellence, it usually reflects intentional leadership, clear standards, and a culture that helps people become better than they were when they arrived. When it exists alongside average outcomes, it often reflects something quieter, a system that has become easy to live in, but hard to grow inside.
The question for leaders isn’t whether people are staying. It’s whether the people who stay are still becoming.
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About the Author: John Eades is the CEO of LearnLoft and The Sales Infrastructure. He was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices. John is also the author of Building the Best: 8 Proven Leadership Principles to Elevate Others to Success. You can follow him on Instagram @johngeades.
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