We’ve been running leadership programs the same way for decades. The result? A cycle of short-term enthusiasm followed by long-term disappointment.

Traditional leadership programs deliver inspiration in the room but rarely result in lasting habits back at work. This is because development is often seen as a ‘one and done’ event rather than an ongoing process, meaning gains tend to be superficial and short-lived.

But, by aligning leadership development with recognised stages of behaviour change, you can guide leaders along the journey from knowing to doing and help them stay on track rather than reverting to old ways of doing things.

The Knowing-to-Doing Pathway provides a design blueprint for leadership programs that aligns with the most widely applied model of behaviour change in the world, proposed by psychologists James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1986; 1983, Prochaska et al., 1992).

The Transtheoretical Model (TTM), often called the Stages of Change model, recognises that behaviour change isn’t a one-off event but a process that unfolds over time.

While the Stages of Change model has limitations as a neat description of the complex and often messy reality of human behaviour (Davis et al., 2015; Littell & Girvin, 2002; West, 2005), for example, people can skip, relapse, and move through stages out of order, its real value lies in its prescriptive power (Sutton, 1996).

It offers a structured way of thinking about the ideal sequence of change: from encouraging individuals to first build awareness, then prepare, act, and finally consolidate and maintain change, which can be adapted to leadership development (Harris & Cole, 2007).

When applied as a practical scaffold, the five stages of Prochaska and DiClemente’s model (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance) can guide the design of leadership programs by shaping pathways that encourage leaders to move from knowing to doing step by step: Assess & Consider, Explore & Learn, Practice & Plan, Apply & Implement, and Reflect & Reinforce.

By aligning development activities with this logical flow, programs can better support leaders in progressing from insight to action and ultimately enhance leadership effectiveness.

The Knowing-to-Doing Pathway

The Knowing-to-Doing Pathway leverages the Stages of Change as a design framework for structuring leadership development as a purposeful sequence of activities that support and hold leaders accountable for real progress.

Here’s a closer look at each stage.

Assess & Consider

This step is about prompting leaders to consider the need for change. Some may be open to it, others may be unaware or resistant to it. For example, a leader may not realise how their micromanagement affects team members’ willingness to step up.

Leadership development is focused on raising self-awareness of the impact of current leadership behaviour and considering what change could look like.

Tools like leadership diagnostics, 360-degree feedback, self-assessments, and reflective exercises can help leaders recognise areas for improvement.

Sharing information on the benefits of behaviour change and its impact on individual, team, and organisational performance through books, articles, blogs, videos, podcasts, and professional speakers can also be beneficial.

Explore & Learn

Here, leaders begin to think about changing their behaviour and weigh the pros and cons. For instance, a leader might realise that adopting a more empowering approach could improve team performance but worry about losing control.

Leadership development at this step focuses on supporting leaders to explore different ways of leading and learning new behaviours and skills.

Drawing on practical models and frameworks can be helpful, as they provide a consistent, easily applied way to understand what ‘good’ looks like.

Training options (courses, seminars, webinars, eLearning), interactive workshops, and immersive experiences with debriefs are all options for creating the conditions for leaders to learn new approaches, explore the benefits and drawbacks of changing their behaviour, and commit to action.

Practice & Plan

Leaders start taking small steps toward behaviour change by practising new leadership behaviours and planning how to apply them on the job.

Low-stakes opportunities, such as real-world simulations, role-plays, scenario-based exercises, and application activities, provide a platform for testing and learning.

Assisting leaders in setting implementation intentions, SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound), and creating action plans also holds them accountable for translating knowledge into action.

For example, a leader might set the goal of asking their team members how they plan to approach a task instead of prescribing steps when they brief them on a new piece of work.

Apply & Implement

In this step, leaders apply their knowledge and implement new behaviours.

They might do this within their role or through experiential learning opportunities like secondments, stretch assignments, or cross-functional projects.

Ensuring leaders have access to relevant quick reference tools and resources, such as how-to guides, checklists, or infographics, can make the doing part easier by reminding them of essential steps.

Enlisting experienced leaders to provide on-the-job coaching and mentoring for guidance and encouragement is another effective strategy for supporting leaders to apply what they have learned.

Creating support networks and peer coaching groups where leaders can share experiences, challenges, and successes also enables learning through doing.

Reflect & Reinforce

In the final step of the pathway, leaders focus on sustaining change and avoiding old habits to reinforce their leadership development gains.

Establishing regular feedback loops through 1:1 check-ins, performance and development conversations, and readministering feedback tools and leadership diagnostics helps leaders review, reflect, and adjust as needed.

Keeping leadership development alive and top of mind with follow-up and refresher sessions, habit-tracking tools, and nudge communications campaigns that include reflection prompts ensures leaders are continually reminded of target leadership behaviours and the extent to which they are demonstrating them.

This reinforcement is necessary because it’s common for leaders to slip occasionally, and reminders help them learn from these setbacks and recommit to their goals.

For instance, a leader might temporarily fall back into micromanagement but then reflect on the reasons and retry their new approach.

Putting it all together

Leadership development is a significant investment for any organisation. It’s crucial not to let it go to waste.

You can increase the likelihood of your leadership programs fostering meaningful and lasting behavioural improvements by designing a development pathway that deliberately mirrors the logic of staged progression.

This provides both the means and resources for leaders to close the gap between potentially being unaware of the need for change, taking action, and safeguarding progress.

Leaders are more likely to develop and perform better with this support and accountability in place, which can result in improved team engagement and productivity, and contribute to overall organisational success.

The key to achieving this? Incorporating behaviour change into the design of leadership development itself.

Interested in crafting a program for your leaders that follows the Knowing-to-Doing Pathway?

Then please reach out, and we can start brainstorming a way forward together.

References

Davis, R., Campbell, R., Hildon, Z., Hobbs, L. & Michie, S. (2015). Theories of behaviour change and behaviour change across the social and behavioural sciences: A scoping review. Health Psychology Review, 9 (3), 323-344.

Harris, S.G., & Cole, M. S. (2007). A stages of change perspective on managers’ motivation to learn in a leadership development context. Journal of Organisational Change Management, 20 (6), 774-793.

Little, J. H., & Girvin, H. (2002). Stages of Change. A Critique. Behaviour Modification, 26, 2, 223-273.

Prochaska, J.O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1986). Toward a comprehensive model of change. In: Miller, W.R. and Heather, N. (eds.) Treating Addictive Behaviours: Processes of Change, pp. 3-27. New York: Plenum.

Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1983). Stages and processes of self-change of smoking: Toward an integrative model of change. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51 (3), 390–395.

Prochaska, J.O., DiClemente, C.C & Norcross, J.C. (1992). In search of how people change: application to addictive behaviours. American Psychologist, 7, 1102-1114.

Sutton, S. (1996). Can ‘stages of change’ provide guidance in the treatment of addictions? A critical examination of Prochaska and DiClemente’s model. In G. Edwards & C. Dare (Eds.), Psychotherapy, Psychological Treatments, and the Addictions (pp.189-205). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

West, R. (2005). Time for a change: Putting the Transtheoretical (Stages of Change) Model to rest. Addiction, 100, 1036-1039.

The Knowing-to-Doing Pathway: Designing leadership programs that change behaviour