Author: Ryan Cooley, LBM Strategic Business Development Manager
There is a lot of focus today on attracting talent, and for good reason. Bringing in the right people matters. We have already talked about hiring individuals who are humble, hungry, smart, and willing to learn, and how that sets a strong foundation for building a team. But hiring the right people is only part of the equation. What you do next is what really defines your organization.
At some point, the conversation has to shift from bringing talent in to making sure you are doing everything you can to keep and grow the talent you already have.
Most organizations cover the basics. Goal setting, performance reviews, and development conversations are all part of the process. SMART goals are a good example. They provide structure and clarity, and there is value in that. But if you stop there, you are only doing part of the job. Retaining top talent requires a more intentional and focused approach, especially when it comes to your highest performers.
One of the biggest mindset shifts is how you allocate your time and energy as a leader. There is a natural tendency to spend more time trying to fix challenges or bring lower performers up to speed. That work is necessary, but it cannot come at the expense of your top talent. In reality, you should be spending more time engaging, developing, and investing in the people who are already driving your business forward.
When you invest in your top performers, you create a multiplier effect. These individuals are already aligned with your culture and your expectations. They model what success looks like inside your organization. When they grow, their impact is not limited to their own role, it actually extends to the people around them. They reinforce your standards, influence behavior, and help elevate the overall performance of the team.
That only happens if you are clear on what matters most. As a leader, you need to define the characteristics that represent your culture at its best. Then you need to identify the individuals who consistently demonstrate those traits. Once you have that clarity, the next step is simple in theory but requires discipline in practice. You elevate those people and you give them visibility. You give them opportunities to lead and influence others. You make them a clear example of what success looks like within your organization.
Another important piece of this is making sure your top performers actually feel valued. In many well intentioned organizations, there is a tendency to reward strong performance with more work. Someone does a great job, so they are given additional responsibility. On the surface, that seems like recognition. In reality, it can create confusion if it is not handled the right way.
Effort without context is not development. If you are going to ask more of someone, they need to understand why. They need to know what you see in them, what you think they are capable of, and how the work they are being asked to do connects to their growth. Without that clarity, it starts to feel like the reward for doing good work is simply being asked to do more of it.
There is also a difference between individual growth conversations and structured, company level development initiatives. Both matter, but they send very different signals. A one-on-one conversation where a manager says they believe in someone and want them to take on more responsibility is valuable. It shows trust and recognition. At the same time, there is a different level of impact when an organization builds formal programs around development.
When you introduce company wide leadership or growth programs, and individuals are selected or even nominated by senior leadership to participate, it carries weight. It communicates that the organization is investing in them in a meaningful way. It tells them they are seen not just by their direct manager, but at a broader level. That kind of recognition plays a big role in retention because it reinforces that there is a future for them within the organization.
Another common challenge is the tendency to look externally when there are managerial openings in an organization. It’s easy to default to the idea that the solution exists outside of the organization, and sometimes it does. But too often, leaders overlook the talent they already have because they start by focusing on perceived weaknesses.
It’s easy to say that someone isn’t ready because of a specific gap or limitation. What gets overlooked is everything you already know about that person. You know their work ethic, you know how they operate; you’ve seen their performance over time. With an external candidate, you are making a much bigger bet on the unknown.
When you build intentional development plans for your internal talent, you give yourself the opportunity to work on those gaps while continuing to build on their strengths. More importantly, you reinforce the behaviors and characteristics that define your culture by promoting and developing the people who already live them every day.
If you are going to create real growth for your top performers, your role as a leader needs to be clear. Your responsibility is not to execute for them. Your responsibility is to create the plan. They are the ones driving, but you are responsible for providing direction, context, and opportunity. You can open doors they may not even see yet, but they have to be willing to walk through them.
When it comes to structuring development, most opportunities fall into a few clear categories. There are job based goals that build on what someone already does, helping them refine and improve within their current role. There are project based opportunities that introduce defined deliverables and timelines, often slightly outside of their normal responsibilities. These are great for expanding capability. Then there are stretch opportunities, which are often the most telling. These push someone beyond what they have done before and test how they respond to ambiguity, pressure, and new challenges. Finally, there are behavioral goals, which focus less on a specific outcome and more on how someone operates. This could be communication, ownership, or how they influence others. These are often the areas that define leadership potential.
To make all of this work, leaders need to strike a balance between being generous and being demanding. You have to be generous in how you support your top performers. That could mean giving them your time, providing mentorship, allowing room for mistakes, or recognizing their contributions in meaningful ways. It can also mean investing in them financially via compensation or through formal development opportunities like paid conferences and trainings.
At the same time, you have to be demanding. These are your top performers and it’s fair to expect more from them. Not just in terms of output, but in how they show up. You should expect stronger communication, greater ownership, and a willingness to go beyond what is asked. You should expect them to take initiative, not just on assigned work, but on their own growth and on the growth of those around them.
That balance is what drives real development. Too much support without expectation can lead to complacency. Too much expectation without support can lead to burnout. The role of a leader is to manage that balance intentionally.
At the end of the day, every leader should ask themselves a simple question. When you are no longer in your role, what do you want to be known for? Results matter, but they are not the whole story. A big part of your legacy is going to be the people you helped develop along the way.
If you are intentional about investing in your top performers, the impact lasts well beyond any individual project or initiative. It shows up in how those individuals continue to grow, how they lead others, and how they shape the organization over time.
In the long run, retaining talent is not just about keeping people. It is about challenging them, investing in them, and giving them a clear path to grow. When you do that well, your best people do not just stay. They become the reason your organization continues to get better.
