Why Leadership Training Fails

Leadership Training has a great return of investment for both individuals and companies if managed and executed correctly. The problem is that most leadership training fails, and with the leadership industry regularly estimated to be worth around $50bn a year, it’s clear to see that its failure results in a serious loss of company resources.

To avoid the same mistakes as many organisations that go through the leadership training process, here are a few points to consider before, during and after Leadership Training

Leadership Training must start by Exploring Self-Awareness

Self-awareness can provide an entry point to a pathway through which leadership training can unlock its potential for organisations.

Greek Philosopher Thales writes “the most difficult thing in life is to know oneself”. And he’s not wrong. Many [potential] leaders have a real lack of self-awareness with regards to their own strengths and weakness. The problem here is that without getting to grips with your own skill sets, it is impossible to become a strong leader.

For example, giving critical feedback is problematic for most people but this is an essential skill that leaders must possess. Most people will feel as though they are not good at this based on the notion that they don’t like it (perhaps because they find it embarrassing and want to avoid it).

Whilst leadership training might give you the tactics to deal with giving critical feedback (such as the best ways to communicate), it does not explore the underlying feelings that restrict the leader from acting (in this case, actually giving critical feedback to an executive).

Leadership training must tackle this first and foremost. Without clearing the way, any other lessons given will be useless as the leader will not be able to act.

Leadership Training must Help Leaders with Continual Personal Development

Once an individual becomes more self-aware, it helps them achieve a state that recognises that they, like everybody else, has strengths and weaknesses.

It is very unlikely that one person has all the skill sets that are needed for a successful business. More often than not they are good at one or two of the following skill sets: technical, human and conceptual.

After succeeding in step one and identifying their own strengths and weaknesses, a leader has the ability to identify their gaps in these skill sets and appoint over individuals who are able to suit these requirements. This results in the continual personal development of a leader, by encouraging them to constantly reflect on their own abilities and adapt to new situations.

A Lack of Clear, Connected Pathways for Leadership Development

Typically Leadership Training takes place in an abstract environment (such as a lecture in a classroom), which means individuals are taught a series of unique events. Due to their isolation from the workplace, often people find it difficult to translate these lessons back to their company.

Leadership Training should not be seen as something that exists outside of the company. With adults typically retaining just 10% of what they hear in classroom lectures, versus nearly two-thirds when they learn by doing, there should be clear pathways in the training that connect directly to the working environment.

The need for continual application with the workplace means that activities discussed or showcased in training become associated with the business and can, therefore, be easily transferred to working life. If this is not possible then the activities can not be maintained and the training will fail.

Lack of Alignment with Business Culture

Regularly, I see leaders return to a company after Leadership Training with excellent new knowledge and a fresh perspective. The problem is that they might be a changed individual but the organisation remains the same; their new ideas and actions, therefore, don’t align with the business model.

For example, the training might tell someone that 360-degree feedback is something that businesses should adopt, yet the leader’s company might not have the tools to achieve this.

Adopted values and the values of the organisation must meet eye-to-eye if the training is ever going to succeed. It is only when a Leadership Training programme works closely and proactively with an organisation can this be achieved. Generic training that is distanced from the goals of specific workplaces will most definitely fail.

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