3: The Hidden Cost of Check-the-Box Training | Courtney Stevens

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 –...