Are your leaders helping you retain top talent—or accidentally driving them away?

In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, HR leader Courtney Stevens and host Mickey Fitch-Collins explore how intentional leadership development fuels stronger culture, deeper engagement, and better retention. If you're an HR or L&D professional looking to boost impact without burning out your budget, this conversation will give you real-world insight into what works—and what undermines your efforts. From inclusive onboarding to pre-leadership pipelines, Courtney shares candid stories, concrete actions, and one vital truth: your leaders shape the employee experience more than any slogan or poster ever could.

This Episode Covers:

• The “wheel” model for ongoing leadership growth (and how it prevents one-and-done learning)
• How pre-leadership programming helps avoid promoting someone who’s great at tasks but not ready for people leadership
• The biggest mistakes organizations make in leadership development—and how to avoid them
• Why authenticity is a leadership superpower—and how Courtney learned this the hard way
• One question you can ask your team today to immediately deepen engagement

Timestamped Highlights

00:00 – Welcome & intro: Why leadership development is key to culture and retention

01:50 – Courtney’s leadership background: from education to HR

02:15 – The impact of revamping leadership development five years ago

03:30 – Creating a shared language across all leadership levels

05:00 – “The smartest person in the room is the room”: Learning from each other

06:40 – Ego-free leadership: leading with humility and curiosity

07:30 – Connecting leadership training to organizational values and goals

09:10 – “Values aren’t words, they’re actions”: Bringing company values to life

10:25 – Why bad leadership—not bad companies—drives turnover

12:30 – The employee experience lives in the leader-employee relationship

13:50 – Leadership programs as visible proof of internal investment and growth

15:00 – Including executive career journeys in new hire orientation

16:30 – Making learning continuous: The “leadership development wheel”

18:00 – Keeping training relevant with blog posts, pulse checks, and peer cohorts

19:55 – Designing inclusive, personalized leadership experiences

21:50 – The dangers of one-and-done training and inauthentic leadership

23:40 – Misalignment between stated values and lived experiences

25:00 – When a performance issue needs a conversation, not a class

26:40 – Launching a “pre-leadership” track to prepare future leaders

28:00 – Pre-leadership as a testing ground: “Is this path right for you?”

30:40 – Courtney’s biggest leadership lesson: authenticity beats imitation

33:30 – Why trying to be someone else as a leader never works

35:00 – “These are the hours I have on this earth—I’m going to enjoy them.”

36:45 – Uncomfortable truth: Not everyone who’s good at their job should be a leader

38:30 –...