What Is Friction Costing Your Leadership Team?
Reflections · 28 September 2026
When change happens around a leadership team, such as growth, new people or a shift in the business, tension usually shows up in how colleagues work together. Relationships get scratchy. Decisions stall. Work slows down.
It's easy to treat this as a people problem that will sort itself out. It's also a money problem.
When the same decision goes round three meetings instead of one, every one of those extra hours is paid for in senior salaries. When leaders spend time chasing, working around each other or repairing relationships, that's time not spent leading. And when someone decides the friction isn't worth it and leaves, replacing them can cost more than their annual salary.
Use the calculator below to see what this could be costing your team. Change the numbers to match your own situation.
A team that can disagree well, decide once, and stay together through change is simply more cost-effective. That's the work I do with leadership teams and business partnerships.
How the numbers are worked out. Each leader's true cost includes employer National Insurance (15% of salary above £5,000), 8% pension and £3,000 of benefits. This is divided by 1,702 working hours a year (227 days at 7.5 hours) to give an hourly cost. Most senior leaders work longer hours, so this is a cautious figure.
Stalled decisions: team size × meeting length × hourly cost × extra meetings × stalled decisions a year. Everyday friction: team size × hours lost × hourly cost × 44 working weeks. People leaving: leavers × salary × replacement cost %.
These figures are illustrative, not a forecast. For wider context, Acas estimates that workplace conflict costs UK employers £28.5 billion a year, with resignations the biggest single cost.
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