Get more from leadership development.
I help organisations get more from leadership development.
Leadership development is one of the most important investments an organisation can make.
But what if we’ve been expecting it to do something it was never designed to do?
Ironically, leadership development has never been easier to buy or harder to invest in well.
There are more programs, providers, technologies and development options than ever before.
That’s good news. It also makes one decision considerably harder.
Where should we invest next?
Whether you're developing your leadership strategy, creating a leadership framework or introducing a leadership program, you're making decisions about how to build leadership capability.
Some of those decisions create lasting value. Others create far less than hoped.
I've spent much of my career wondering why.
I don’t think the problem is leadership development.
I think it's what we've been expecting leadership development to achieve.
Every organisation I work with wants to develop better leaders. I can’t say I’ve met one that didn't. So, they invest in leadership assessments, coaching, and programs.
These are sensible investments because they help answer an important question.
How do we develop better leaders?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s the right question.
The question isn’t the problem.
The problem is believing that answering only this question will produce an organisational outcome.
Because organisations don't just want better leaders. They want to become organisations that consistently develop better leaders.
That's a different ambition.
A more complete way to think about leadership development.
Over time, I have come to believe that organisations get the most from leadership development when they make progress on two questions simultaneously:
How do we develop better leaders?
And...
How do we become an organisation that gets better at developing leaders?
The first develops individual capability. The second strengthens organisational capability.
Neither is enough on its own.
Leadership development creates the greatest return when every investment achieves two things:
It develops better leaders today and strengthens the organisation's ability to develop leaders tomorrow.
Many organisations invest successfully in the first. Fewer deliberately invest in the second.
That's where I think many organisations unintentionally leave value on the table.
Leadership programs are often expected to produce organisational outcomes that only organisations can create.
Programs matter.
They just can't carry the whole load.
The best leadership programs influence the broader organisation.
At the same time, the organisation shapes the success of every development experience delivered within it.
When those two begin strengthening one another, something changes.
Leadership development stops feeling like a series of initiatives.
It starts becoming an organisational capability.
Capability isn't purchased. It's built.
Leadership development creates the greatest value when it becomes part of what an organisation does, not simply something it buys.
Because the goal isn't simply to deliver leadership development. The real goal is to build an organisation that's capable of developing leaders.
That's the work I love.
How I help.
Everything I do is designed to help organisations make better leadership development decisions and turn those decisions into organisational capability.
My work brings together two interconnected frameworks:
The Knowing-to-Doing Pathway™ helps design leadership experiences that develop better leaders.
The Leadership Development System (LDS) Wheel™ helps strengthen an organisation's capacity to develop leaders.
Together, they help organisations answer both questions and ensure every investment contributes to both.
Whether we're strengthening your leadership development system, designing a leadership program or thinking through your next investment, the goal remains the same:
Helping organisations get more from leadership development.
Where would you like to start?
Strengthen your organisation's capacity to develop leaders.
Explore Leadership Development Systems
Design leadership development that creates lasting value.
Think it through together.
Organisations I have helped get more from leadership development:
Let’s work out what will create the greatest impact.
If you're making important decisions about leadership development, I'd love to hear what you're trying to achieve.