The Mid-Market Leadership Gap

Why Your Best Individual Contributors Make Your Worst Managers and How You Can Stop the Cycle Before It Starts.

You’ve been there. One of your top performers stands out. They’re sharp, reliable, technically exceptional. You promote them into a leadership role, expecting the same results at a higher level. But things shift. Team engagement dips. Deadlines stretch. Your star performer is struggling, and so is everyone around them. You’re left wondering where the disconnect began.

This is a classic case of the Peter Principle. It happens when people rise based on success in their current role, not on readiness for the next one. In mid-sized companies, where leaders often wear multiple hats and support can be limited, it’s a costly mistake that you can’t afford to keep repeating.

Technical Skill Doesn’t Equal Leadership Potential

Your best doers aren't always wired to lead. Technical contributors excel because they take ownership and drive results on their own. Leadership, on the other hand, requires letting go of that control. It’s about helping others succeed, navigating uncertainty, and influencing people you don’t manage directly.

So how do you spot true leadership potential before a promotion?

Ask Yourself These Questions:

• Does this person lift others up, or do they prefer to operate independently?
• Are they curious about how things could be better, or just focused on doing things right?
• Have they shown resilience and adaptability when the path wasn’t clear?
• Can they build trust across teams, not just within their own silo?

These questions give you a window into how someone leads, not just how they perform.

Support the Shift from Doer to Leader

Once you’ve identified someone with potential, you need to support their transition. Here’s how:

• Give them stretch opportunities before the title. Ask them to lead a cross-functional project or mentor a junior team member.
• Don’t rely on outdated “management training.” New leaders need coaching that reshapes how they think, not just what they do.
• Normalize learning. Talk openly about what’s hard, what’s working, and what needs to change.

Leadership is not automatic. You can’t expect someone to make the leap without a bridge.

You Already Know This Needs to Change

If you’ve read this far, you already know the pain of promoting someone too soon—or not preparing them enough. You’ve seen talented people burn out in roles they weren’t ready for. You’ve watched team performance suffer while everyone figures it out the hard way. You want to fix it. You want to build a leadership pipeline that doesn’t burn out your best people. And you want to stop losing good people to preventable leadership failures.

That’s where Talent Magnet Institute comes in.

You are not alone in this work, and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We help organizations like yours build better leaders, starting with the people you already have.

You’re the solution. We’re here to help you make it happen.