The Leader Mindset #29

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Our $89 Billion Leadership Development Problem: A Practical Playbook to Address It

Organizations are projected to spend $89.5 billion on leadership development in 2025. That’s an enormous investment, and yet, most of it won’t deliver what organizations truly need: more capable leaders.

Why?

Too many companies mistake training for development. Training can be valuable, providing leaders with new knowledge or skills, but on its own, it rarely changes behavior. In fact, research shows that only 5–25% of training sticks (depending on how it’s delivered).

Leadership training content is everywhere, and much of it looks nearly identical no matter which vendor/university you choose. The real difference comes from how you design the environment around the content to make learning happen.

After 20 years of designing and implementing leadership development, I’ve learned one thing: success depends on what you do beyond the classroom.

Here are eight critical practices that will ensure your leaders not only learn but also apply that learning long into the future.

8 Critical Leadership Development Practices

1. Require Mandatory Attendance

You’ve probably heard it before: “I can’t make the training today—I’ve got a vendor in town.”

What message does that send? That development is optional! That if something “more important” comes up, they can forget their growth commitments. When leaders treat development like an afterthought, they undermine the very investment the company is making in them.

Organizations spend significant resources on leadership programs, and participants must recognize the commitment required. Unless it’s a true emergency, every learning activity should be non-negotiable, and the consequences for missing must be clear.

My Advice:

• Outline time commitments, session dates, and consequences for missed participation and them to sign a contract formalizing their agreement.

• Communicate manager responsibilities: provide time, coach, and hold direct reports accountable.

• Take a firm stance on attendance from the start (e.g., removal from the cohort).

2. Space the Learning

Many organizations pack four days of content into a single program and call it development. But human beings don’t learn that way. Without time to reflect and practice, information fades. Spacing learning across weeks or months allows leaders to build habits, connect concepts to real work, and reinforce skills over time.

My Advice:

• Structure programs in monthly modules/sessions/activities instead of one-time marathons.

• Run learning in cohorts rather than open enrollment for continuity and peer support.

• Build in “application time” between sessions so leaders can practice and return with insights.

3. Leverage the Manager

A learner’s manager is the most critical factor in whether development actually happens. When managers engage with participants about their progress, the learning is reinforced. When they don’t, participants often treat the program like a box to check. The adage holds: what gets reinforced by a manager gets done.

My Advice:

• Conduct a manager orientation to educate them on the topics their direct reports are learning.

• Provide managers with simple tools and prompts to provide coaching and reinforce new skills.

• Require learners to schedule update meetings with their managers to drive accountability.

4. Always Start Development with Assessments

Self-awareness building is a career-long effort, and a prime opportunity to focus on it is during a formal development program.  Tools like 360-degree feedback surveys or personality assessments help leaders recognize blind spots and understand their natural tendencies. This reflection makes later learning more relevant and creates openness to feedback that might otherwise be ignored.

My Advice:

• Use reputable assessment tools with proven validity and reliability.

• Ensure a trained expert debriefs results; don’t just hand over the report.

• Leverage assessment insights when drafting the participant’s development plan.

5. Balance Individual and Group Development Needs

I have never found a one-size-fits-all development program to work very well. While every leader in an organization needs a shared foundation of skills (e.g., coaching, conflict management, delegating, and team leadership), individuals also have unique gaps that they must address. The most effective programs combine collective learning with personalized development, ensuring consistency of leadership skills across the organization while addressing each leader’s unique development needs.

My Advice:

• Identify 3–5 core leadership skills that everyone in your organization should master.

• Use assessments to build each individual’s development plan and consider pairing leaders with a professional coach.

6. Integrate Real Work Assignments

Adults don’t learn best by listening; they learn by doing. A program without real-world practice quickly feels like a lecture series and is sadly forgotten within days. When applying every new concept to a real-world application, leaders practice skills in context and turn knowledge into a habit.

My Advice:

• Design assignments that apply skills directly to participants’ jobs (e.g., five coaching conversations, delegating new tasks, or developing a department strategic plan).

• Create accountability through peer check-ins, manager discussions, or coaching reports.

• Use action-learning projects that solve real business challenges while reinforcing critical skills.

7. Leverage Peer Learning Groups

Peers are one of the most underused assets in leadership development. When leaders learn together, they share ideas, challenge each other, and form bonds that outlast the program. In fact, I have found that participants regularly rate peer learning as the most valuable part of a leadership program.

My Advice:

• Form small peer groups (3–5 participants) within each cohort.

• Require groups to meet regularly to reflect on assignments, discuss job challenges, and review personal wins.

• Use the groups for peer accountability; nobody wants to be the one who didn’t follow through.

8. Measure Impact

Measurement may not directly drive leadership learning, but it’s essential for improving programs over time. Without measurement, you can’t know whether your efforts are actually developing better leaders who drive stronger organizational performance.  Measurement is about continuous improvement and will identify ways to improve your program over time.

My Advice:

• Leverage your content vendor or internal analytics to assess impact on behaviors and business results.

• Be sure to design your measurement plan before implementing the program. Gathering data after program implementation is a complex undertaking.

What Does This All Mean?

Don’t get me wrong, I believe engaging, high-quality content matters in leadership development. But too often, organizations pour disproportionate time and money into content while neglecting the environment that makes learning stick. Sending leaders to a week-long training or conference may feel impactful, but the “one-and-done” approach rarely creates lasting change.

To truly build capability, programs must go beyond flashy content. They need to weave in these eight leadership development practices to extend learning far beyond the classroom. Without this, you’re not developing leaders; you’re just burning money. Isn’t $89.5 billion enough?

 I would love to hear your thought on what is working with your leadership development. Am I being too critical of the current state of leadership development programs?

Share Your Feedback!

Andy Noon, PhD

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Thanks for reading and look forward to seeing you again next week.

Andy