Most corporate sponsored leadership training is ineffective. Why?

  1. Many consultants attempt to jam their round peg of a program into the square hole of an organization.
  2. Most training has a short half -life because there lacks accountability within the client organizations to actually implement the ideas generated at training events.
  3. Leadership training often focuses on what a leader needs to do to others versus what the leader needs to change in himself/herself.

Corporate Leadership Training

With all the focus on leadership training in organizations today, the impact has been minimal. In fact, The Global Leadership Forecast 2011 (link) surveyed greater than 14,000 leaders and HR professionals in more than 2,600 organizations across 74 countries. Here are some of the findings:

  • Spending for leadership development programs have increased over the last 5 years.
  • Only 1/3 of respondents rated their leadership development efforts as effective.

Yet they continue to spend:

  • 8 of 10 organizations maintained or increased their budgets for leadership development in 2011 and 55% plan on increasing their spending in this area in 2012.

We all recognize the need for developing leaders in our organizations but how do we do that? Here are my thoughts on each of the failures I have seen:

  1. Many consultants attempt to jam their round peg of a program into the square hole of an organization.
    We as professional consultants must spend the time with the client organizations to know their true needs. Otherwise we are treating a symptom (How To Fire Someone) with out diagnosing the real problem (Hiring for Character).
  2. Most training has a short half -life because there lacks accountability within the client organizations to actually implement the ideas generated at training events.
    A good leadership seminar is like a good sermon at church. I walk out saying I am going to change based on what I heard. But, the tyranny of the urgent (meetings, emails, emergencies) take over and nothing really changes. We as professional consultants need to offer real follow-up and accountability options beyond email reminders that go into most leaders’ spam folders.
  3. Leadership training often focuses on what a leader needs to do to others versus what the leader needs to change in himself/herself.
    Come on people! HR departments and many training organizations focus on tactics leaders should use to get more productivity out of their people. Becoming a better leader is more of an internal transformation than an improved ability to implement management tactics.

I spent 20 years in a Fortune 50 company and appreciate the incredible amount of resources that were poured into me. Companies are spending more and more on developing their leaders, but the efforts are falling flat. I think an improved training system that focuses on the three areas I’ve discussed is crucial to maximizing the chances of leadership development working within organizations.

Question:

What have you seen in your company? Am I being too simplistic or is there more to the story?