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When it comes to leadership development, the only thing more diluted than modern leadership workshops are leadership podcasts. Are we yet to wake up to this realisation?
Ever noticed the ‘leadership’ methods and strategies handed to you by ‘speakers’ that costed your employer tens of thousands per session, while well-intentioned, became increasingly irrelevant as you moved further away from that circle of people you shared the room or workshop with?
Leadership, is just like any old religion, in that it can bring positive effects when everyone is on the same page, but the moment you step outside that shared understanding, disagreements emerge, and the only things that truly matter anymore are the core principles of leadership.
What do I believe the Core Principles of leadership are?
These are the bedrock upon which real leadership is built.
As leaders, the further we stray from these fundamentals, whether due to comfort, fear of challenging emotions, or avoidance of difficult topics, the less authentic we become. And make no mistake, people (especially intelligent ones) can sense this disingenuousness from a mile away.
The moment a leader starts to hide behind flowery language or complex strategies without grounding them in these core principles, their credibility begins to erode.
So what does this mean for leadership development? It means that true leadership cannot be developed in isolation. The most effective leadership development occurs not just in teaching leaders how to lead, but in simultaneously developing, training, and coaching the teams they lead.
Isolated Leadership Training
Organisations often roll out leadership development programs aimed solely at the leaders themselves, expecting these programs to produce results like increased productivity, better team cohesion, or improved morale. However, more often than not, these programs fall short of achieving significant or sustained improvements. Why? Because leadership doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Leadership is about relationships, influence, and communication, all of which involve more than just the leader.
When only the leader is trained, you end up with someone who might speak the right words and employ the right techniques, but without a team that absolutely understands or buys into these methodologies, the changes don’t stick.
The leaders you develop become viewed as nothing more than “crafty talkers,” who do little to drive real capability and performance improvements within the team or organisation.
The real work in leadership capability isn’t just about crafting better speakers or more charismatic figures at the top. It’s about building systems that support leadership at every level of the organisation. It’s about ensuring that the people being led are just as equipped and ready to follow as the leader is to lead. This means investing in the entire team, not just the individual at the helm.
Leadership development should be about creating a culture where the core principles (transparency, honesty, and respect) are practiced by everyone, not just preached by one person.
When these principles are embedded in the organisation’s modus operandi, they naturally extend beyond the leader and influence how everyone operates. This is where true, sustained leadership capability comes from.
It’s a rough and tumble world in workplaces right now, for a range of reasons that aren’t going away any time soon. It’s time to rethink how we approach leadership development. It’s not enough to roll out programs that teach leaders how to talk the talk. We must also invest in the systems and the people who will execute on these principles day in and day out. Only then will we see real, lasting improvements in organisational capability, resulting in greater productivity and performance.
At the end of the day, leadership is about more than just leading; it’s about creating an environment where everyone is not only empowered to step up, but knows how to take responsibility, and contribute to the organisation’s success within the confines of their role.
That’s something no amount of workshops or podcasts can achieve on their own.
