Enhance Business Success by Building A Deep Bench

Cathie Leimbach • June 27, 2023

People often talk about the merits of sports teams having deep benches. Ensuring the teams’ players have a breadth and depth of skills is seen as preparing for a successful sports season, but many businesses aren’t following suit. Let’s consider how workplace managers could benefit from adopting some common practices of sports team coaches.


Sports coaches build deep benches by recruiting talented individuals, focusing on further development of their abilities, fostering a winning attitude, and instilling accountability. They prioritize enhancing individual skills and strategically rotating players to determine their best-fit position. Open communication and constructive feedback are emphasized, creating a collaborative environment where athletes feel valued and motivated. Coaches also encourage teamwork and learning from one another, promoting healthy competition and pushing everyone to excel.


When business leaders and managers follow suit, their organizations tend to flourish.  They hire people with potential and provide training and coaching to prepare them for success. They give them a variety of opportunities and monitor their performance to determine the best fit position for each position within the company. As a result, employees feel supported and are positioned to be successful, increasing employee loyalty and the company’s bottom line. 


When managers invest in developing people around them, they are ensuring operational continuity by having employees prepared to address unexpected challenges or promptly fill a vacant position. This mitigates the risk of spikes in workload or long vacancies in key positions. Development of a deep bench also fosters a culture of growth and development. People are equipped to be flexible, adaptable, and resilient allowing the company to quickly respond to market changes and seize emerging opportunities.


What is one thing you can do to build a deeper bench that will enhance your organization’s  success in our ever-changing business environment?

The Leadership Problem Most Companies Don’t Address

By Cathie Leimbach • May 19, 2026
Many organizations assume their biggest challenges are rapidly changing technology, customer retention, and employee initiative. But quite often, the root cause is people leadership problems. That’s one reason The Imperfect CEO by Jim Brown is so timely. Releasing today, May 19, the book explores how leaders build healthier organizations not by pretending to have all the answers, but by creating cultures grounded in trust, clarity, accountability, and meaningful conversations. Brian Besanceney, Chair, Board of Orlando Health, Inc., described the book this way: “Through vivid stories, real-world examples, and a model grounded in collaborative culture, Jim Brown gives leaders permission to wrestle honestly with the generational divides, misaligned targets, and cultural fractures that can too often sabotage high-potential organizations.” Greg Apple, CEO of Amgine.ai, connected the book to leadership beyond business alone: “In a fast-moving company, culture is everything. Jim Brown’s principles have helped our team lead with greater clarity and alignment. The Imperfect CEO distills those lessons brilliantly. Every leader should read it.” What stands out to me is how closely this book aligns with the principles behind Conversational Management. Healthy cultures are rarely built through policies alone. They are built through the quality of everyday leadership conversations — how expectations are clarified, how accountability is handled, how feedback is delivered, and how trust is strengthened over time. That’s why leadership development cannot stay theoretical. Culture changes conversation by conversation.  The Imperfect CEO is an easy-to-read business fable that illustrates common people leadership challenges and provides suggestions for overcoming them. Order your copy today and start building healthier leadership conversations inside your organization.

Why Some Companies Attract More Job Applicants Than They Need

By Cathie Leimbach • May 12, 2026
Chick-fil-A restaurants often receive far more job applications than they have openings. This is not luck. It is leadership. People apply where they believe they will be treated well. At Chick-fil-A, employees experience respectful communication, clear expectations, and leaders who support their success. That reputation spreads quickly through word of mouth. Leaders in these restaurants do simple things well. They ask questions before they assume. They listen to employees. They provide encouragement and clear direction. They notice good work and address problems in a helpful way. As a result, employees feel valued. They enjoy coming to work. They tell others. That is what attracts more applicants. Many organizations focus only on hiring. Strong organizations focus on how people are treated after they are hired. When leaders create a workplace where people feel respected, supported, and clear on what success looks like, something powerful happens: People stay. People perform. And more people want to join. This is what leadership really is. Would you like to see several leadership and culture practices Chick-fil-A uses to attract and keep quality employees? Click here to view: How Chick-fil-A Attracts Quality Applicants