We have over thirty years of experience running leadership programmes. In that time, we’ve worked with several organisations that have been lukewarm to the training due to poor experiences in the past. Why do some leadership training programmes fail? Here are just a few reasons.
Lack of Buy-In from the Board/Executives
Often, it is the people at the very top who need the training first. However, board members and executives tend to feel that they already know what they’re doing and don’t need training. They adopt a stance that there is nothing more for them to learn. This leads to a situation where the board inevitably fail to adopt the recommendations of the programme.
While you can still train those lower down, without the will at those of the top to make changes, the programme ends up failing to deliver results.
The Generic Approach
A great training programme reflects the market sector, the customer needs, the business culture and environment. A coach spends time getting to know the business before the training takes place to understand real-life challenges and use common language, relevant examples, and a range of practical activities.
Unfortunately, there are trainers out there that sell ‘off-the-shelf’ coaching solutions. They don’t take the time to know the business, so they will try and use the same programme for a B2B technology wholesaler that they would use for a retail pet supplies outlet.
If your leadership coach isn’t suggesting preparation and research, then you should look elsewhere.
An Outdated Approach
You wouldn’t send your child to a school that still taught them that mercury was a fantastic cure-all or that piling on the carbs is a great way to lose weight. There are many things that we once accepted as fact, but we now know are not true.
The same applies to leadership theory. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is still a staple of many leadership programmes, despite being written in the 1940s and widely disputed today. Worse is when coaches parrot a common but gross misunderstanding of concepts such as McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. They didn’t understand it to begin with, and now the incorrect interpretation is accepted as accurate.
A lot of content still used in leadership programmes was written decades ago, and much of it is no longer relevant. Leadership coaching is a science, and just as you’d be horrified to go to the doctor and find they wanted to drill a hole in your head, you should be very wary of any leadership coach using outdated textbooks and techniques.
A Militaristic Approach
“Break them down and build them back up!”
It’s called attack therapy and is a prevalent method for training recruits in the United States Army. During the 1980s, attack therapy became a popular method for leadership programmes, which it really should not. If you’re going to war, then sure, you will need to confront pressure and phobias, but despite much macho posturing, business isn’t warfare unless your business is organised crime.
The biggest problem with attack therapy is how proponents disregard the individual’s stresses, fears, and mental makeup. I have seen people in tears after a session with a wannabe drill sergeant who evidently never watched past the halfway point of Full Metal Jacket.
Yes, people want to be, and should be, challenged. Overcoming challenges is vital for personal growth, and experience can make us stronger. However, not everybody is up for a Bear Grylls-style survival weekend in the Peak District. You need to respect your people’s boundaries and tailor your programme in a way that ensures those boundaries are not violated.
A Poor Spread
Believe it or not, food is important. Food gives us energy, and that energy is what ensures our people are engaged and motivated. Hungry delegates are rarely receptive or engaged in the content. Snickers are not what I would suggest, but they are right – you’re not yourself when you’re hungry.
If you’ve hired a great leadership coach, then you should support them. Part of that support is ensuring that your delegates have good, healthy food available at lunchtime. Make sure you’ve accounted for dietary requirements, and try and avoid bloaty foods like sausage rolls and Scotch eggs.
If your budget can stretch to it, consider bringing in a catering company to provide something a little bit exciting. The more comfortable your people, the better your results.
Lack of Pre and Post-Work
A great leadership coach should be sending through pre-work and follow up-work. If they don’t, then the training exists in a bubble. It just becomes a day you’re expected to “get through” before you return to your regular job. The training needs to be embedded, and the best way to accomplish this is to make the delegate’s think about it before and after.
Pre-work aids the training by giving the coach an idea of where the people are. What are their skills, what needs improving, what challenges are they facing, etc.? Post-work demonstrates to what extent they’ve understood the training and how they will be implementing it.
Both provide a key set of metrics that a coach can use to assess the impact of the training. Great coaches don’t just deliver a day’s training and leave you to it. They continue to provide an after-care service to ensure that your people maximise their potential and your investment.
Additionally, delegates must be informed about the training, structure, expectations, etc., before it occurs. Don’t just send them to the venue on the day and expect results. Encourage them, excite them, and work with them to ensure they’re ready to start learning new things.
Too Much Theory
Think back to school. Who were your favourite teachers? I would wager that the majority of your favourite teachers were the ones who engaged the class. Very few people respond well to a pure theory approach. PowerPoint is a crutch for some coaches. They overuse it. A coach that stands and talks for hours isn’t going to engage people. Eventually, your mind will wander because you are bored, and once that happens, very little will stick.
The most effective training is only about 30% theory. The rest is practical application – roleplays, scenarios, relevant games, and similar. When you’re looking to bring a leadership coach in, you should ask them what they do to keep your people engaged. It’s not your people’s fault if the coach can’t keep their attention.
With that in mind, some organisations think that their people shouldn’t be having fun when training. There is an incorrect assumption that if your people laugh during training, they must be mucking about. That isn’t true. When we’re having fun, things stick. A real-life example is how most of us will remember more lines of dialogue from a comedy show than we’ll remember from a gritty drama. We remember them more effectively because they brought us joy, and our brains are hard-wired to seek joy out.
Therefore, your coach should be making your people laugh. The training itself should be fun and interactive. The more fun a person has during a training session, the greater the likelihood the training will stick long-term.
Are you interested in Leadership Training? We have the skills, knowledge, and experience to deliver a world-class training experience to your business that will deliver tangible results and a fantastic return on investment. Just drop us a note here, and we’ll get back to you soon.
