This is a situation we encounter too often in our work at the WeRx Brands. I've turned it into a fictionalized account to protect the perpetrators ...

An employee (let's call her Lisa) gets hired by a reputable company following her completion of a degree in computer sciences. She's thrilled, and can't wait to start applying her education to real-world projects. Her new boss (let's call him Bill) has been with the company for 19 years. He's the Operations Manager, a truly nice person, and excited to welcome Lisa to the world of work.

In her first few weeks, Lisa notices that Bill does everything manually. Inventory? Updated in Excel by hand. Reports? Compiled from printed logs. When Lisa mentions a tool that could automate half of this, Bill nods and says, "I've heard of that. Just haven't had time to look into it." A few more times Lisa mentions other processes that could be automated with simple, inexpensive solutions. Each time Bill says, "That's great stuff. Maybe down the road."

Lisa finds herself getting really good at ... Excel. She can VLOOKUP with the best of them. But her skills, the ones she's worked so hard to develop, start to atrophy.

She applies for a different job at another company, and gets it. When she gives her notice, Bill is really surprised. He says, "I thought you were happy! We were grooming you for leadership." And Lisa responds, "I just didn't feel like I could grow here."

We see this same story play out across many roles:

• The IT/Sys Admin stuck maintaining legacy systems, or helping an outdated ERP system limp along, and not updating or adopting new technology.
• The marketing generalist stuck with traditional campaign methods and management, and working in a first generation CRM without access to automation, personalization, testing technology, or analytics tools.
• The accounting admin stuck in a bookkeeping mindset, faced with slow closes, no use of forecasting or financial modeling tools, and no automation.
• The sales person stuck with rudimentary CRM (or no CRM at all), not exposed to modern selling methods like data-driven selling and account-based management, and not able to benefit from extensive sales automations and support.
• The HR person stuck in transactional HR, without focus on strategic talent development or employee experience.
  The Customer Service rep stuck in basic problem-solving, rudimentary ticketing, not viewed as a revenue driver, not using chat, knowledge bases, or leading CRM tools.
• Manufacturing supervisors stuck in manual scheduling with low tech-adoption, no automation, no use of lean practices.

I could go on, but you get the picture.

When it comes to people development, we set the pace. When leaders stop learning, the whole team slows down. Technology changes how work is done, and staying current isn't just good for business ... it's a signal to employees that their growth matters.

For those of us in leadership roles, our learning curve doesn't end. We're not just responsible for delivering results (though that's reason enough). We're also responsible for creating an environment where people can grow. Falling behind doesn't just limit ourselves — it limits everyone who's counting on us to lead the way. Want to retain good people? Keep learning, and stay worth following.