The Leadership Development Delusion
Why Leadership Development Fails to Develop Leaders
I’m letting you all know about a new series that will include my observations, critiques, and concerns about the way we seek to develop people within companies.
In keeping with the maxim—a problem well-defined is half-solved—I will define what I consider the flaws in current leadership, talent, and training trends, and how we got here. I’ll spend the balance of the series sharing approaches that disrupt the current direction of travel.
The Premise
This series arises from more than two decades spent in various roles within the Leadership Development space. I say this to highlight my proximity to—and passion for—helping develop people, not to imply I have all the answers.
It’s from this vantage point that I have arrived at the following premise:
Leadership development is out of sync with today’s workplace demands. Despite a radically changed economy, most development practices still reflect 20th-century thinking.
Companies in America spend more than $150 billion annually on training and education. The disconnect between 21st-century employer needs and how they try to address them contributes to a misuse of these valuable dollars. What should perform as an investment instead amounts to an expense. Harvard Business School refers to the current state of training and education as “The Great Training Robbery.”
But the cost extends beyond the bottom line. Leadership is a crucible for human growth. Yes, companies ought to invest in developing leaders as a means of improving performance and profitability. But these are individual humans we’re talking about—and when we fail to help them grow as leaders, we forgo the opportunity and responsibility to help them mature as human beings.
The Foundational Questions
This series will center around the following questions:
What are we doing? I will provide an overview of the current state of leadership development.
Why are we doing it? A range of motivations inspire companies to invest in developing their leaders—some that have little to do with their stated objectives.
Why isn’t it working? I want to clarify why the vast majority of leadership development initiatives fail to demonstrate lasting change.
What can we do about it? I will propose suggestions for how companies can improve the way they develop leaders.
Along the way, I will share past and current case studies from my own work as illustrations.
Who is this series for?
This series will appeal to people who seek to develop themselves and contribute to the development of others. If this sounds like you—especially if you’ve found traditional approaches lacking—I think you’ll appreciate what’s coming.
I look forward to kicking this off next week and interacting with all of you along the way. Please share this series with others as well. As you’ll see, this conversation has implications that extend well beyond our culture and economy.