"You don't leave a job, you leave a manager." Do you find this generally holds true in sales, with the inherent challenges the role presents?

People leave for various reasons not just manager for example when someone can’t meet their target maybe cause the product isn’t great competitively. Mgmt is just 1 out of a thousand reasons.

Yes, absolutely! Every job comes with certain challenges and working in sales is of course very challenging. Mastering challenges is motivating and fulfilling. Working for a toxic micromanager is the opposite. 

Absolutely, we haven't gone fully AI yet so people still work with, and buy, from people. 

If you are in an environment which is not the right fit (for multiple reasons) you are not going to stay. 

I’ve heard it for years and have always refuted it. I’ve worked for the greatest sales leaders imaginable.

I had a boss that said this in our business all the time when people left, and it really rubbed me the wrong way. It can be easy as a founder or Senior Leader to tell yourself that people are leaving because of someone or something that is out of your control, but it can sometimes be that you don't pay market rate. Or that your product isn't as "must have" as you believe it to be.

Ultimately there are a ton of reasons why people leave but these are my most common:

- Comp plan changes or lack of compensation plan that results in unpredictable payouts or much less than they were told in the interview they'd be able to make
- Constant changes in team leadership, or lack of continuity in general (often at larger companies)
- Poor leadership/Direct manager - so what you said above
- The opportunity turns out not to be what was sold in the interview
- Lack of passion for the product or industry
- Lack of resources/support

and on and on. Those are the ones I see the most. 

The long and short of it is that if you mess with someone's money, their mental health, or don't support them with what they need to be successful, you're in trouble.

If you find yourself as a founder or CEO and you say this often it could be the case that you have a bad manager. It could also be the case that you're making excuses for your business and need to make adjustments.