Leadership Development Is Broken: 7 Bold Shifts Every CEO and CHRO Must Make
Let’s Be Honest: Leadership Development Is Broken
Hello, I’m Lepora Flournoy. And I’m going to say what many of us already know but hesitate to admit: leadership development is broken.
Yes, I said it—broken. Not cracked. Not outdated. Broken.
Despite millions poured into coaching, e-learning, assessments, and simulations, organizations are still watching their brightest plateau at the manager level or fizzle under director pressure. And too often, companies are forced to look outside for senior leadership rather than growing it from within.
The problem isn’t your talent. It’s the system. You’re developing leaders for a world that no longer exists.
So, what do we do about it? Let’s talk about seven bold shifts that will truly transform leadership development inside your organization.
1. Stop Developing Leaders. Start Developing Leadership.
Most programs focus on shaping personalities instead of building capabilities. Leadership isn’t about being impressive—it’s about being impactful.
If someone can quote your model but can’t calm a room in crisis, develop a successor, or realign a team, then what are we measuring?
2. Move Beyond Leadership “Appetizers”
One-off offsites and workshops aren’t transformation—they’re appetizers. The real work is ongoing, messy, and rooted in repetition, reflection, and surprises. Growth comes through friction, not perfectly programmed events.
3. Align Leadership Development With Your Strategy
Leadership isn’t a reward for tenure—it’s a response to the future. If your pipeline doesn’t align with your roadmap, then what you’re calling development is really nostalgia.
4. Teach Leaders to Lead Themselves First
Self-awareness isn’t optional. It’s the foundation of trust, execution, and resilience. Leaders must understand their triggers, their ego, and their blind spots. Until they can lead themselves, they cannot lead anyone else.
5. Stop Promoting Culture Killers
We’ve all seen it—the high-performing manager who delivers results but burns out teams. Leadership is not just about what you achieve, it’s about unlocking the best in others. That must become the promotion metric.
6. Invest in Middle Managers Like Your Brand Depends on It
Because it does. Middle managers carry your culture, deliver your customer experience, and pass on your vision. Yet they’re the most undertrained, overrelied-upon group. Stop waiting until VP level—start where the pain really lives.
7. Build Feedback and Failure Into Your Programs
Safe leadership programs produce safe leaders. And safe leaders don’t shift systems. Growth requires discomfort, failure, and recovery. Leaders must be stretched to lead through complexity and unpredictability.
The Bottom Line
At this moment of pressure, a leader will either step up with clarity or fade away. If you keep relying on outdated playbooks, you’ll keep getting outdated outcomes—talent stuck in limbo, cultures running on compliance, and innovation smothered by fear.
We can do better. We must do better. Not just for the business, but for the humans in it.
It’s time to stop calling what we’re doing development when we’re not developing anyone. Let’s rebuild leadership from the inside out.
Are you ready? Because I am. Let’s go.
