Creating a Leadership Development Program That Works

Your leadership training isn't working. Here's why: 45% of managers say their companies aren't doing enough to develop future leaders. But the problem runs deeper than just "not enough training." After a decade of designing leadership programs, here's what I consistently see organizations get wrong: ➡️ They treat leadership development as an event, not a journey. Think about it: You send your high-performers to a 2-day workshop. They return energized with new ideas. Then... nothing changes. Why? Because the training isn't integrated into their day-to-day performance. Here's how to fix this: 1️⃣ Start with the end in mind Map out exactly what success looks like for your leaders. What behaviors and outcomes do you want to see? Build your development plan backward from there. 2️⃣ Create accountability partnerships Pair leaders with internal mentors who can provide ongoing support and feedback. (36% of managers report witnessing ineffective leadership regularly - mentorship helps break this cycle.) 3️⃣ Design learning that sticks Instead of one-off training sessions, create a blend of: - Practical assignments tied to business goals - Peer learning groups for real-time problem solving - Regular coaching check-ins - Opportunities to teach others 4️⃣ Measure what matters Track behavioral changes, not just completion rates. Are your leaders demonstrating improved communication? Better decision-making? Increased team engagement? 5️⃣ Make it systematic Leadership development should be part of your performance management system. Tie development goals to promotions and compensation. Remember: Great leaders aren't born in a classroom. They're developed through intentional practice, meaningful feedback, and real-world application. What's one thing you're doing to develop leaders in your organization? #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching #TalentDevelopment #OrganizationalDevelopment

I've talked to dozens of PX and L&D leaders who are struggling to up-level their managers. The deeper problem lies in this endless feedback loop👇 It's not fair (or accurate) to say "manager training never works." We have to ask WHY it isn't working. This is what we've heard from chatting with some of the brightest CPOs, L&D leaders, and HRBPs this year: 🏃♂️ "Managers are too busy." Great learning programs seem to always fight against time and bandwidth. While many companies say they prioritize learning, they're not always able to create environments where there's time for both driving outcomes and growth. 🤷♀️ "Content is hard to apply." When managers do attend a training, they often leave with more questions than answers. Many skills like feedback, expectation setting, and psychological safety aren't absorbed by reading but by doing. This can leave managers with the impression of wasted time or confusion. 🙊 Manager don't ask for help. When managers run into problems covered by the training, they don't always ask their bosses or HR for help. They may hope the issue blows over or that they're simply overreacting. (OR lots of managers go to HR, who don't have the bandwidth to properly support them!) 💥 Problems worsen, and more training is the solution! When trainings fail to stick and HR fails to catch problems in time, these issues blow out of proportion. A failure to give feedback may evolve into a performance improvement plan. HR is left to be clean-up crew, and told to do more trainings. It's a frustrating problem wheel, and it only builds on itself. The answer isn't more of the same training––PX leaders have to smash the wheel. 🛑 So how do you break this cycle? The answer is better manager development programs, that challenge each of the problems in the wheel. This might look like: 💡 Context-based learning in the flow of work 💡 Bite-sized, actionable learning modules 💡 Peer-based mentorship and discussions 💡 User-focused learning design and programs 💡 Executive-backed learning time and support 💡 Diverse avenues for manager support (not just HR!) 💡 Better data and analytics on what managers are struggling with Naming and breaking this cycle requires a lot of creativity and iteration. It's not enough to design the same modules for diverse populations of leaders, and that's why L&D leaders have one of the hardest jobs out there. But the effort is worth it. It's the difference between pouring L&D budget down the drain and growing managers into the leaders your organization needs. How have you noticed this cycle affecting your L&D programs? What cycle-breakers have you found? Let us know in the comments! #learning #learninganddevelopment #hr #management #training

Organizations spend an estimated $160 billion annually in the U.S. and over $366 billion globally on leadership development programs. Yet, only 25% of organizations think their leadership development programs are successful. (Research from Brandon Hall Group) Let me tell you the reason this gap exists (and how to change it): Too many programs focus on how to deliver content to their team members. But there's a problem with even the best content. Only 10% of training is retained when not reinforced through real-world application (per a study cited in the HBR). Even the best leadership content will stay just that... they are simply ideas. These theories will stay theories until leadership development programs integrate ways to implement them into the day-to-day of participants through real-world application. That's why I believe most organizations focus too much on leadership training content. Even world-class content falls short when there's not a bridge built between theories and application. To get to the core of that behavior change, we need to build the bridge. That looks like: 1. Adapting content to be more strategic and integrate real business challenges that exist. When we're solving real problems, it stops being about theory. That means content may change real-time, even during a session. 2. Creating community through cohort-based learning. When we do leadership development, it's more important to create long-term resources than provide short-term content fixes. Community and mentorship create active conversation around how we want to choose to lead inside our organizations. 3. Build real-time resources for participants. This might look like conversation starters for 1-on-1s, changing team meetings to adapt content theories into practice, or providing participants access to coaches as they go through real-time challenges. Just-in-time learning is key as we go to make changes to our behavior. If you're investing in leadership development programs at your company, think about the bridges you're building between the content and your business. How easy is it for participants to see and implement new behaviors into their day-to-day? What do you think? Do you think content is king? Or do you think other components matter more for behavior-change effectiveness?

Most leadership programs end with feedback forms. If your CEO asked for the 💰 money slide, Would you have anything to show? Here’s the reality: attendance isn’t impact. Smiles and surveys don’t prove ROI. Here’s where ROI starts: ☑️ Start with business strategy, not just learning objectives. ↳ Programs should be designed to accelerate organizational priorities, not just learning hours. ☑️ Embed development into the work itself so growth shows up in real time. ↳ Impact should be measured in project delivery, cost savings, quality of execution, and leaders’ ability to grow and guide their teams. ☑️ Prepare leaders for responsibilities beyond their current role. ↳ Growth is proven when leaders step up successfully into bigger challenges, not when they sit in classrooms. ☑️ Measure outcomes with real metrics, not fluff. ↳ Track improvements in retention, promotion readiness, decision speed, or customer satisfaction. ↳ If you can’t measure it, you can’t prove ROI. ☑️ Reinforce learning through coaching and accountability until new habits stick. ↳ Sustained behavior change is the only way leadership investments translate into long-term ROI. This is when the impact becomes clear. You see sharper judgment, stronger execution, ready successors, and market-ready teams. That’s the money slide boards and executives are looking for. As the article pointed out, too many organizations still approach leadership development with yesterday’s playbook. In business, the “money slide” is the single slide in a presentation that proves value, the ROI that executives are really looking for. Too often, instead of proving value, organizations fall back on the old playbook: 📚 more courses, 🕒 more hours, 📊 more frameworks. But impact doesn’t come from volume. It comes from alignment, design, and outcomes. Here’s my take: the future of leadership development won’t be judged by how much training content is delivered. It will be judged by how much capability is created and how quickly that capability moves the business forward. That’s the shift executives are hungry to see. ♻️ Repost if you’re investing in people, not just tech. Follow Janet Perez for Real Talk on AI + Future of Work