Leadership development is something most organisations take seriously. Time, money, and effort are invested with the hope that leaders will think better, decide faster, and lead more effectively. Yet, after many leadership programs, organisations are left with a familiar feeling. Everyone attended. Feedback was positive. But very little actually changed.
Leaders return to work with good intentions. They want to apply what they learned. But work pressure takes over quickly. Meetings pile up. Decisions need to be made. Teams need answers. Slowly, leaders fall back into old habits. Not because they don’t care, but because learning did not fit into their reality.
This is where most leadership programs fail.
Many programs are designed as generic solutions. They rely on standard models and universal leadership ideas. While these concepts make sense, they often feel disconnected from what leaders face every day. Leadership in a fast-growing organisation is very different from leadership in a stable one. Yet, programs rarely reflect these differences.
Leaders often describe this experience in simple terms. The program was interesting, but hard to apply. The ideas were good, but did not fully match their role. The learning stayed in the classroom, while work demanded something else.
Research from McKinsey points to the same issue. Leadership development does not work well when it is separated from real work and real business challenges. When learning is treated as a standalone activity, behaviour change becomes difficult
(https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/email/classics/2025/2025-01-18d.html).
Another reason programs fall short is because they are treated as one-time events. A few days of training cannot change how leaders think and act under pressure. Leadership is shaped over time, through decisions, experiences, and feedback. Without ongoing practice, learning fades quickly.
True leadership development needs context. Leaders need to see their own challenges reflected in the learning. They need to work on real problems, not hypothetical ones. When learning is connected to actual decisions and business priorities, leaders engage more deeply and apply ideas with confidence.
Customisation, therefore, is not about changing slides or adding company examples. It is about understanding what the organisation is trying to achieve and what leaders are struggling with right now. When programs are built around this understanding, learning becomes relevant and useful.
When leadership development is linked to business outcomes, its value becomes clear. Leaders make better decisions. Teams work with more clarity. Execution improves. Learning stops feeling like an extra activity and becomes part of everyday leadership.
The real cost of getting leadership development wrong is not just wasted budget. Over time, leaders become sceptical of training. HR teams struggle to show impact. Learning loses credibility as a driver of change.
Leadership development works when it respects the reality leaders live in every day. When programs are grounded in real work, real pressure, and real decisions, change becomes possible.
At Edex Educom, we design customised executive education programs that align leadership learning with business priorities and on-the-job challenges. Because leadership development should not just sound good. It should help leaders lead better, every single day.
