Like everything, I think there are good points to your idea of a managerial refresh. With some folks, I can see this working really well, and can bring about some positive changes. For the individual who goes off on sabbatical to learn, that can really add some depth to their skills and knowledge.

However, I have a situation currently where we have this practice. I work for a large organization where we are assigned an accountant by the accounting department. Every two years, we get a new accountant so that all of the accountants learn how different parts of the organization work. To be honest, I find it very annoying. I have had good accountants and not good accountants through this process, and every time I have to spend several months explaining how my unit works until they get up to speed. There are always mistakes during this period as well, and I don’t blame the individual, but it does become a drain to have to be in training mode every other year.

So, I have mixed feelings about what you propose. I do think that people who stay to long in one place stagnate, but there is also value in institutional knowledge. I think we all have an responsibility to keep learning and growing, but not everyone does it which is frustrating as well.

Thanks so much for reading and sharing your idea. I’m hopeful you will get to try it someday and I would love to hear if you have a better experience with it than I did. Be well!