Why so few people want to lead, and what it would take to change that

Nobody wants to be the boss anymore, and honestly? Can you blame them?

More stress, more pressure, longer hours. In one Visier survey, 40% of workers named increased stress and pressure as a top reason they don't want to manage, and 39% pointed to longer hours. Then there's the loneliness.

People leader role? Great. You're now responsible for the tough decisions nobody wants to make. You're held accountable for outcomes often outside your control, like budget cuts you didn't make and policies you didn't create. Yet you own the message and the deliverables. It's a quick way to lose the peers you had before, isolated by the tough calls and difficult messages that come with a new title and a few extra bucks.

Are we surprised that, according to LinkedIn research, only 30% of workers want to become people managers in the next few years?

And for those who do step up, the support often isn't there. As Justin Bariso writes in Inc., a West Monroe survey found that 66% of managers got eight hours of training or less. Among managers in their first year, 43% got none at all. Bariso sums it up in seven words: "Nobody showed them how to lead effectively."

One of the challenges in building successful leaders is that the skills that get someone promoted aren't the ones it takes to be an effective manager:

• Handling difficult employee conversations

• Giving and receiving feedback

• Navigating team dynamics

• Making complex decisions with limited information

Many frontline roles don't deal with these day to day, whether you're a lawyer, a doctor or a salesperson. Once you're thrust into a leadership position, though, that's likely where you'll spend much of your time.

It'd be one thing if it were an individual struggle, but it's a dangerous domino effect. In my work with healthcare leaders, I've seen it firsthand: burned-out care team members seek support from an equally burned-out manager who, if the numbers above are right, was never trained to handle it.

When leaders aren't trained or supported, everyone's well-being is at risk.

The good news? It doesn't have to be this way.

Leadership training and support resources exist. We have to move beyond the "next man or woman up" mentality after a leader burns out or fails, and build a real foundation of training and support so there's a pipeline of future leaders.

In my experience, real-time guidance, someone to call when the hard moment actually hits, makes a huge difference. For many leaders, it's the first time they've had that kind of support. It's some of the most fun work I've done, and some of the most necessary.

If you're a leader who never got that support, I'm always happy to be a sounding board. Let's talk.