Leadership Development Strategy

Is your leadership development built to last or built to fizzle? Despite over $60B invested globally each year in leadership development, some studies suggest as few as 5% of leaders apply what they learn in sustained, meaningful ways. Some programs even show a negative ROI. The problem? We treat leadership development like an event when it needs to be a system. In this paper, Jaason Geerts, PhD outlines a set of enabling factors to maximise the outcomes and ROI of leadership development programs. Here’s where the magic (and missed opportunities) often lie: 1. Pre-program Prime the conditions before the learning starts: ⚙️ Involve stakeholders in co-design so the learning addresses real-world problems, not abstract concepts ⚙️ Have leaders create a development plan before the program begins with goals linked to their role, team needs, and the organisation’s strategy ⚙️ Ensure line managers are briefed and bought in. Better yet, include them in onboarding or launch activities ⚙️ And here’s one often skipped: run a barriers analysis. What might stop leaders from applying what they learn and how can you remove those roadblocks now? 2. During the program. Design for use, not just insight: ⚙️ Build in experiential and peer-based learning. Real development requires practice, not passive consumption ⚙️ Create space for in-the-moment reflection and real-time feedback ⚙️ Use "culminating activities" (like project presentations or commitments shared with peers or execs) to raise the stakes on application. 3. After the program. Don't let learning and the intent to use it fade: ⚙️ Remind participants and their managers that follow-up assessments are coming and offer support to prepare for them ⚙️ Build in public sharing of results whether through showcases, storytelling, or impact reports ⚙️ Keep the community alive. Invite alumni back as mentors, facilitators, or contributors. It signals development is an ongoing expectation, not a one-time event. 4. At the system level. Think beyond the program, as this is where the biggest return often is, and the biggest gaps are: ⚙️ Integrate leadership development with talent processes - performance reviews, promotion criteria, succession planning ⚙️ Make leadership a shared expectation across the organisation, not just for those with direct reports. Embed it in your culture, systems, and symbols ⚙️ Develop a leadership development blueprint that visualises how different programs and development experiences connect across the employee lifecycle. In other words, great content isn't enough. If you want behaviour change, build a system around the learning. 💬 Over to you: What’s one thing you've done (or stopped doing) that made a real difference to your organisation's leadership development outcomes? 👇Let's swap notes in the comments. #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipdevelopmentsystem #behaviourchange #organisationaldevelopment

I've built and/or delivered leadership development training for hundreds of companies over the last five years. Here's the formula for the most successful programs: Leadership Behavior Change = Catalyst Event + Systemic Changes Leadership development aims to change behavior. When we're deploying leadership training, it's because we need our managers to be taking different types of actions inside of our organizations. We need the different behavior to either save costs or make more revenue. We need real business impact. But the problem is that training classes do NOT exclusively change behavior. Sending your managers to a one-time manager bootcamp will not result in the changes you're hoping to see. Instead, use in-person events as a catalyst event. In-person events have a very valid purpose. They serve to get people to think differently. During successful leadership development events, leaders agree to reframe their approach. Furthermore, leadership in-person events build community and trust for longer-term peer-based support inside our organizations. Then, once the event is done, we have to focus on making system changes that support our new behaviors. We have to change the processes that feed into the previous cultural norms. Managers need real-time support for the behavior change we're asking of them. This might look like: - Coaching (group or 1-1) - Conversation guides - On-the-job challenges - Cross-training - Stretch opportunities - Mentorship - Internal/external networking - Internal change campaigns Traditional leadership development doesn't create this effect. Only when we combine the two together do we achieve lasting real business transformation. What do you think about this formula? What's missing or what would you change here?

One-size-fits-all leadership training is a myth. It always fails. Here’s the structural reason why. For years, I watched high-potential talent disengage. We'd invest in off-site seminars and standardized modules, hoping for transformation. The result? A checked box, not a changed leader. The pain point isn't a lack of opportunity; it's the irrelevance of the format. If your leaders are unique, why is their development so generic? Leadership isn't built in a classroom; it's forged in the flow of work. We must be architects of flexible development that meets them where they are. Ditch the monolithic program. Build a mosaic. This rapid, measurable growth can be achieved by focusing on three adaptable levers: 1. 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭: Replace quarterly day-long seminars with bi-weekly, 90-minute Sprint Labs. This creates consistent practice and immediate application, cutting time-to-competency by 60%. 2. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: Shift from "Managing Difficult Conversations" to "Running your Q3 Project Post-Mortem." Context is king. Use their actual projects and problems as the core curriculum. 3. 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Blend micro-learnings (a 10-minute video on delegation) with real-time, in-the-moment coaching before a high-stakes meeting. This embeds learning directly into performance. Stop pushing your people through outdated programs. Start pulling them forward with a development plan that respects their time, context, and ambition. That’s how you build leaders who are equipped for today, not yesterday. ♻ 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 to help your network 🔔 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 Diane for more #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching #StrategicHR #PerformanceCoaching #FutureOfWork

Leadership development isn't a workshop. It's a battlefield. Companies investing in five or more development approaches are 4.9X more likely to improve leadership capability. Let that sink in. Not 20% better. Not twice as good. Almost five times more effective. Yet most organizations still believe in the magic of the two-day offsite. The inspirational speaker. The binder full of frameworks that collects dust on office shelves. The certificate that means nothing six months later. This is why we have managers, not leaders. Position-holders, not vision-carriers. Real leadership development isn't an event. It's an ecosystem. A deliberate architecture of growth that works across multiple dimensions simultaneously. Like a garden that needs sun, water, soil, time, and care – not just one ingredient. The leaders who grow fastest are learning across five dimensions: Coaching – because mirrors don't lie when held by someone who cares enough to be honest. Reflection – because experience without introspection is just busy work. Community – because no one becomes exceptional in isolation. Data – because feelings lie but patterns reveal truth. AI – because technology can show us blind spots humans are too polite to mention. We've been approaching leadership like it's a skill. Something you can master in a weekend retreat between trust falls and PowerPoint slides. But leadership isn't a skill. It's an identity. A way of being. And identities aren't built in workshops – they're forged through consistent, multi-dimensional pressure and support. This isn't about resources. It's about resourcefulness. About understanding that transformation doesn't happen in straight lines or single interventions. The question isn't whether you can afford five approaches to development. The question is whether you can afford the mediocrity that comes from using just one. Because in a world where everyone has access to the same information, the same technology, the same markets – leadership capability isn't just a competitive advantage. It's the only advantage that matters.

Leadership development should not be a checkbox. It should be a catalyst. I had the opportunity to work with a client facing high attrition and disengagement among mid-level managers. Instead of offering a generic solution, we co-created a leadership development programme tailored to their unique culture and goals. The focus was clear: • Equip leaders to lead with clarity and connection • Address real business challenges, not just theory • Build momentum beyond the training room Every session included live case studies from their teams, real-time role plays, and follow-up coaching to apply learning in daily leadership moments. Within six months, we saw a measurable shift. Attrition dropped. Internal communication improved. And most importantly, leaders felt seen, supported and empowered. The ROI wasn’t just in numbers. It was in morale, energy and ownership across the board. Leadership programmes work when they are relevant, real and reinforced. Is your organisation investing in development that sticks? #leadership #culture #mindset #inspiration #lead  

Most leadership programs fail because they're HR initiatives. The ones that actually work? They are seen as business initiatives. After 20+ years watching programs succeed and fail, I've noticed a pattern: The programs delivering real impact aren't focused on improving generic leadership skills. They're focused on developing the critical leadership capabilities the business needs. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁: They start with "Leadership for what?" - tying development directly to your 2-3 year business strategy. Senior leaders buy-in and co-create, not just sign off - making it their program, not HR's. They focus on self-awareness through 360s and coaching - because leaders can't fix what they don't acknowledge. Peer learning builds community and connection - your best leaders learning from each other creates exponential impact. They bring outside-in perspectives - understanding the broader industry landscape helps your leaders anticipate changes coming in next 2-3 years. The programs that succeed? They're owned by the business. They build specific capabilities. They drive strategic outcomes. Swipe through the carousel for the complete framework - including questions to ask before launching your next program. What’s your advice to ensure your leadership development program is not an HR initiative? P.S. Want more frameworks for building business-focused HR strategies? Join 3,000+ HR leaders getting practical insights every Thursday in the Future of HR newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gYSzn72F

Rethinking Leadership Development For years, organizations relied on high-touch, offsite programs to build leaders. Post-COVID, many swung hard in the opposite direction, toward low-touch, scalable platforms like LinkedIn Learning and on-demand content. The upside? Speed, scale, and access. The reality? Consumption ≠ capability. Watching content doesn’t automatically translate to better decisions, stronger judgment, or improved business outcomes. And increasingly, boards and executives are asking a harder question: 👉 Where is the ROI? What’s emerging now is a more intentional balance: ✔️ Low-touch learning as the always-on foundation ✔️ High-touch experiences used selectively, for real application, peer learning, and business-embedded problem solving ✔️ Clear expectations for impact, not attendance At the same time, organizations are moving away from academic, theory-heavy programs and toward practical, situational development. Leaders don’t want another model, they want tools that help them perform under real pressure. This shift is also changing expectations of HR. More companies are asking HR to move beyond managing programs and start architecting capability, designing leadership development from business strategy backward, challenging legacy approaches, and being explicit about what success actually looks like. Leadership development isn’t something leaders attend anymore. It’s something they practice, every day, in real decisions, with real consequences. And the organizations that win will be the ones that can clearly answer the question: “What did this actually change?”

If leadership development momentum is dependent on the department/vendor/person sustaining the efforts, then it's a program to complete, not a system that builds leaders. Leadership development should create more leaders. Here's some ways to integrate sustained leadership development: • Structures for internal coaching networks • Learning channels with internal contributions and strong tagging • Frameworks for micro-discovery/debrief in weekly meetings • Unified language, frameworks, and resources for enhanced collaboration • Systems for train the trainer (co-facilitation opportunities too) The goal is to help leaders learn to drive development. These are cost-effective, time-effective, and impact-effective ways that help build learning infrastructure rather than programs. What are some of the other ways that you build sustained leadership development within your organization?

For over 15 years, “leadership matters” has topped CEO priority reports. I know because, at Deloitte, we ran these surveys every year. So, how is it possible that 75% of employees still consider their managers ineffective? Something keeps falling through the cracks, year after year. We promote the wrong people, then overload them with work and bureaucracy. They get little development support, feel unprepared to manage people well, and end up unhappy themselves. The root issue is that leadership is not treated as an integrated system. What does that look like? Consider the following set of repeatable practices across maturity levels. CORE PRACTICES 1. Defining leadership competencies that provide consistent benchmarks. 2. Identifying targeted requirements and roles to ensure comprehensive coverage. 3. Analyzing leadership development skill and capability gaps. 4. Selecting or developing signature leadership development programs that drive excellence in management. ADVANCED PRACTICES 5. Aligning leadership development with the business mission and objectives. 6. Defining an impactful vision of the leadership strategy and brand. 7. Leveraging formal assessments to reliably identify development goals. 8. Developing leaders across multiple levels of management. EMERGING PRACTICES 9. Defining and developing a leadership culture that drives and supports high performance. 10. Engaging leadership and introducing governance to reinforce the linkage of development efforts to the business. 11. Blending learning and development delivery methods to optimize the acquisition of advanced skills. 12. Measuring the development process and outcomes for impact and accountability. These practices provide a structured approach. Yet a systemic leadership model means Leadership Development is directly connected to career development, performance management, coaching & mentoring, and succession, among others. P.S. If you want to see how this looks in Wowledge, ping me.

Why do many companies track every dollar in their financials but leave leadership development to chance? We wouldn't dream of operating without a budget, a forecast, or a financial audit. Yet many leaders are expected to learn by osmosis after being thrown into the deep end. This disconnect is all too common. Leadership development is an essential engine of profitability, and underestimating this key facet of your growth strategy is like leaving your most valuable asset off your balance sheet. Consider the data on how a strong leadership pipeline directly correlates with financial performance: • Accelerated Revenue Growth: Companies with a strong leadership pipeline have 2x higher revenue growth than those with weak pipelines (HBR). • Higher Profitability and Productivity: Teams led by highly engaged leaders are 21% more profitable and have 17% higher productivity (Gallup). • Mitigating Turnover Costs: 75% of employees who voluntarily exit a company leave due to poor leadership from their boss, and replacing them can cost 30% to 200% of their salary (Gallup). • 7X ROI: For every $1 invested in leadership development, companies see an average $7 return (Human Capital Institute). With these figures in mind, you can’t afford not to invest in leadership growth. In my latest blog, I break down how organizations can bridge their leadership gaps with the same intentionality they apply to their financials to maximize profitability by: 1. Conducting a "Leadership Audit": What are your talent gaps and strengths? 2. Developing a "Leadership Budget": What resources do you need to close the gaps? 3. Forecasting a "Leadership Pipeline": What are your strategic goals for the next 3 years, and what leadership capabilities will you need to achieve them? 4. Investing Strategically in "Leadership Assets": Who are your most valuable people and how can you invest in their growth? Don’t leave leadership development to chance. Start treating it like the bedrock of your profitability that it is. Read the full breakdown in my blog post, “The Unseen ROI: Why Investing in Leadership Development is Your Best Financial Strategy” (link in the comments below). And if you’re ready to invest in building a resilient leadership pipeline, let’s connect. #LeadershipDevelopment #TalentManagement #ROI #BusinessGrowth #Profitability #ExecutiveCoaching