“People leave managers, not companies” is a widely repeated saying in American business. A variant recorded in 2002 is “people do not leave their jobs, they leave their bosses.”
The saying appears in First, Break All the Rules (1999) by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman: “It tells us that people leave managers, not companies.” The phrase researcher Barry Popik found the same words in the Washington Times of May 3, 1999. He says the book “probably originated or popularized” the saying. It is not certain who used it first.