Making Leaders Takes Time

I was reading an overview of an article about why leadership development efforts often fail. The article said (and I agree) that it's because companies go for the "quick-fix" with leadership training just like so many other initiatives.

Companies are tempted to hire high-priced consultants or to buy off-the-shelf packages to provide their leadership training. It's not that the consultants or packages are bad. It just that leadership is one of those skills that is rarely learned quickly and consultants and leadership training packages often don't stick around that long.

Strong leaders (shoot, even moderately experienced leaders) aren't developed over night. It takes years of training, observing, coaching, messing up, etc. for most managers to be competent as leaders. Some are naturals and catch on quickly. Others never do.

Even though it's not the norm, the best leadership programs are ones that take a long-term, disciplined approach. As part of the ongoing curriculum, companies may take advantage of consultants or "products", but these components are only a part of a much larger strategy of leadership development.

What does your company do regarding leadership training?