Why Do So Many Leadership Development Programs Not Get Results?

Hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of hours are spent worldwide on leadership development. Yet, study after study shows that most leadership programs don’t result in any meaningful improvement long term.

Where’s the disconnect? Why do some leadership development efforts fail to deliver. In my experience, there are 10 primary pitfalls. To keep from dumping content, we are going to discuss 5 of the reasons in this blog and will explore the remaining 5 reasons in a separate blog.

Why do some programs end up without results?

Failure to Engage Top Leadership

The most significant pitfall? Lack of involvement and engagement from top leadership. McKinsey & Company found that programs with sincere senior management involvement have a 71% success rate, compared to just 27% when this engagement is missing.

Often leadership development is outsourced – either internally to HR or to an outside group with a pre-packaged course or program. Without executive leadership involvement, the likelihood of success is so low that it doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend the money.

Lack of Practical, Real-World Application

A leadership development program might be packed with top-notch content from famous authors and Harvard professors, but if it lacks real world relevance, it won’t matter. Leadership development is just a whirlwind in an open field if it’s not connected to the business strategy and goals.

Similarly, just lecturing without having leaders apply the skills is often wasted time. As Confucius famously said, "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." A study by the NTL Institute showed that people retain 75% of what they learn when they apply it in their jobs, versus only 5% from lectures.

No Measurable Goals or Benchmarks

What gets measured, gets done. This rule is essential in business, yet often overlooked in leadership development. Many programs fail to define clear goals and benchmarks for success, so participants end up walking away without knowing if they've really learned anything or not. According to a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, people who set specific and challenging goals perform 90% better than those without them. The goals being measured should relate to the skills and behaviors being developed, not just a happy-face question at the end of the course about whether it was enjoyable.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Many programs falter because they overlook individual differences. Leadership styles and learning needs are different. For me, the most impactful sessions have been small group sessions where leaders shared their challenges, brainstormed ways to address them based on our different experiences and perspectives, and then spent time individually reflecting on specific actions we could take to address similar challenges. Others, however, learn best from presentations from speakers with great stories and quotable nuggets. A program focused on only one style of leadership or learning may miss the mark for many of the leaders.

Lack of Ongoing Support and Reinforcement

Ever been to a leadership seminar, left feeling inspired, but a week later couldn’t remember a thing – or had abandoned whatever new things you tried? Both are common scenarios because many programs lack ongoing support and reinforcement. When leaders come out of the gate pumped, but changes in their leadership behavior aren’t recognized or reinforced, things go back to the way they were.

Takeaways

If you haven’t seen the results you hoped for in the past or are planning future leadership development efforts, consider whether they involve top leadership, include practical application, have clear development goals, accommodate different learning styles, and whether there will be ongoing support. If more than one of these pitfalls is present, carefully consider whether it’s worth the investment of time and money.

If you are assessing the effectiveness of your current leadership development efforts or building a new internal leadership development system, we are happy to share our experience, insights, and the methods we use in our Middle Manager Accelerator program to effectively move the needle: www.PeopleCap.com.