The Signs Were Everywhere (But Leadership Was Too Busy Laughing Up Top)

Every company loves to say “people are our greatest asset.” It is a neat little phrase for slideshows, hiring pitches, and feel good newsletters. But if people are truly the greatest asset, then why is leadership always the last to notice when their best ones are heading for the door?

Because the signs are never subtle. They are glaring. They are repeated. They are practically written in neon letters across Slack. And yet, somehow, leadership manages to miss every single one of them.

The Warnings Nobody Wanted to See

When a top performer starts to check out, you can feel it. Their energy changes. They stop speaking up in meetings because they know the decisions are already made. Their emails go from paragraphs to one liners. Their tone shifts from problem solving to indifferent acceptance.

They take more “doctor’s appointments” in the middle of the day, which everyone knows are actually interviews. Their LinkedIn suddenly springs to life with new connections, shiny endorsements, and subtle hints that they are “open to opportunities.”

Projects that used to excite them become chores. Their cameras stay off. Their deadlines slip because their motivation is gone. Their contributions shrink not because they are lazy, but because they are already halfway out the door.

Everyone around them notices. The peers. The teammates. Even the interns whisper about it. But somehow, the people in charge are oblivious.

The Leadership Blindfold

Why? Because managers are not looking down. They are looking up.

The only smiles they care about are the ones above them. As long as their own bosses are happy, the rest of the team could be on fire and it would not matter. They would rather polish slides than ask questions. They would rather talk about “metrics” than talk to the actual humans those metrics represent.

I have seen managers bend over backwards to impress an executive with a shiny dashboard, while ignoring the fact that half their team was quietly updating résumés during the presentation. I have seen leadership obsess over KPIs while missing the simple reality that the people delivering those numbers were exhausted, disengaged, and ready to quit.

It is not that they cannot see the signs. It is that they refuse to. Admitting that people are checked out would mean admitting they failed to lead. And that is far scarier to them than losing the very people who carry their workload.

The Fallout

And then the resignation lands. Suddenly, the alarm bells ring. Suddenly, everyone scrambles. Emergency meetings are called. Exit interviews are scheduled. Leadership feigns shock: “We had no idea they were unhappy.”

But of course they did. They just ignored it until it was too late.

The aftermath is always the same. The people left behind have to scramble to cover the gap. Workload doubles. Morale drops. The same leaders who ignored the warnings tell everyone to “pull together” as if loyalty will magically solve the problem.

The best people leave, the clowns stay, and leadership convinces themselves the circus can go on.

The Corporate Comedy

What makes it even more tragic is how predictable it all is. You can almost write the script in advance.

1. A top performer shows all the classic signs.
2. Leadership pretends not to notice.
3. The performer leaves.
4. Leadership reacts with shock.
5. A half hearted survey goes out.
6. Nothing changes.
7. Repeat.

And through it all, the people higher up keep smiling at each other. They slap each other on the back. They celebrate meaningless wins. They protect each other in meetings. The view from the top looks great because nobody wants to look down.

Meanwhile, the foundation quietly rots.

The Moral

Losing your best people is never an accident. It is a choice. A choice made every single time leadership ignores the obvious warning signs in favor of keeping their own bosses happy.

When management is more invested in their own optics than their team’s reality, this is what happens. The talent leaves. The morale drains. The quality drops. And the same clowns who created the problem climb another rung up the ladder.

The truth is, most companies are not people first. They are clown first. Keep the people at the top laughing, keep the show going, and maybe nobody will notice the tent is collapsing.

But here is the thing about circuses. They only work when there are performers worth watching. And once the best ones walk out, all you are left with are clowns playing to an empty crowd.