The six elements of a successful leadership development system

"The field of leadership development has a long history of following the latest fad. During a recent collaboration with a major automaker, focusing on the employee development pathway for the upcoming year, one leader shared with us the following sentiment: "I just hope this is not another flavor of the month." The comment resonated with the group, who felt somewhat exhausted and weary from the cycle that many organizations tend to follow. Sadly, there's nothing new about this kind of reaction."

"Billions of dollars are spent annually on leadership development initiatives. Much of these investments go into single-shot programs that function as commodities in the marketplace of leadership development. However, there is limited empirical evidence demonstrating the return on investment. One reason for the limited impact is that most programs are not grounded in what we know about human development. We can and must do better."

Leadership development often follows fads, leaving leaders and employees weary and skeptical. Organizations spend billions annually on single-shot programs that act as commodities and yield limited empirical return on investment because most programs lack grounding in adult learning, human development, systems thinking, and leadership theory. One-day workshops and quarterly classroom sessions contribute little to long-term growth of leadership skills, competencies, and self-views. Effective preparation requires shifting from isolated programs to an integrated leadership development system built on clarified leadership principles that provide a shared understanding of effective leadership in context.

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