Latest research on Leadership Development
Evidence-based research on leadership development programs, manager effectiveness, coaching habits, and building leadership capability at scale.
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS
- Most leadership development programs fail to change behavior because they lack on-the-job application and reinforcement after the classroom experience.
- First-time manager transitions are the highest-leverage intervention point; habits formed in the first 90 days persist for years.
- Coaching-oriented managers produce teams with measurably higher engagement, retention, and performance outcomes.
COMMON MISTAKES
- Investing heavily in senior executive programs while neglecting frontline and mid-level manager development where the largest impact occurs.
- Treating leadership development as an event (a workshop or offsite) rather than as a sustained practice with accountability built in.
- Selecting leaders for development based on tenure or technical skill rather than demonstrated people leadership potential.
How to make leadership development programmes work for women
This article addresses a persistent gap between organisational investment in women's leadership development programmes and actual outcomes, including burnout,…
What’s Wrong with Annual Reviews – and 6 Tips to Improve Them
This article addresses the widespread dissatisfaction with annual performance reviews and proposes six practitioner strategies for improving performance…
The Role of Leadership Training in Modern HR Management - nerdbot
This article addresses the integration of leadership training into core HR functions, arguing that it is no longer a discrete initiative but a structural…
A multidimensional model of management competence in social services: validation of the Social Services Management Scale
This study addresses the absence of validated, context-sensitive instruments for measuring managerial competencies in social service organizations. The authors…
The Power of Story in Leadership Development
This article, published in Training Magazine, argues that storytelling is an underutilised and superior method for delivering leadership development content…
The next frontier of leadership development: internal, not external
This article addresses the evolving challenge of leadership development, arguing that traditional mentoring models designed for long-tenure corporate careers…
Enhancing mental toughness among healthcare leaders to support employee engagement
This article addresses whether participation in a structured mental toughness (MT) intervention is associated with improved employee engagement among senior…
Why more organisations are extending leadership training beyond the management ranks - hcamag.com
This article reports on findings from an Association for Talent Development (ATD) report, sponsored by SIY Global, examining the organisational benefits of…
A High-Level Lens for Leadership
This article addresses current trends in leadership development as observed and practiced by members of the Training Hall of Fame — organizations recognized…
High Tech + High Touch = Effective Leaders
This article presents findings from the 10th annual Leadership Development Survey, a longitudinal study conducted jointly by Training magazine and Wilson…
The gender pay gap: Why C-suite accountability matters more than ever
This article addresses the persistent gender pay gap in the UK, arguing that the primary obstacle to progress is misplaced organisational accountability rather…
5 Ways Objective Talent Assessments Improve Leadership and Succession Planning
This article addresses the challenge HR and L&D professionals face in conducting objective, bias-reduced succession planning and leadership development. The…
How HR leaders can align talent development with business goals - hcamag.com
This article addresses the gap between organizational investment in talent development and the strategic value that structured learning programs can deliver,…
News - Navy HR leaders sharpen skills through virtual, enhanced training course - DVIDS
This article addresses the U.S. Navy's annual Human Resources Professional Development Training Course (HRPDTC), conducted July 9-11, 2025, at the U.S. Naval…
Employee Engagement Speaker: What to Know Before You Book - Adam Mendler
This article, authored by Adam Mendler, a professional keynote speaker and founder of Thirty Minute Mentors, addresses the topic of employee engagement and the…
Upward Feedback: 22 Employee Examples to Aid Development
This article, published by Leapsome, addresses the practice of upward feedback — the process by which employees provide structured input to their direct…
6 Areas of Improvement at Work for Performance Reviews
This article, published by Leapsome, addresses how performance reviews in 2026 can be structured to identify and support employee development across six…
AI in L&D: Its Uses, What to Avoid & Impacts on Learning & Development | Cornerstone - Cornerstone OnDemand
This article, published by Cornerstone OnDemand, addresses the growing integration of artificial intelligence into organizational learning and development…
Training Accountability: How to Build it in from Day One
This article addresses the persistent gap between leadership training delivery and observable behavioral change in organizational settings. The author, a…
How HR can harness the performance management revolution - HR Magazine
This article addresses the fundamental flaws in traditional performance management systems, particularly annual reviews that compress months of behavior into…
The evolving HR agenda in the GCC: A conversation with Mohammad Abu Al-Rob - Consultancy-me.com
This article addresses the evolving human capital agenda facing HR leaders across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), framed through a practitioner interview…
‘Please provide examples’: Amazon looks for specifics in performance reviews - HR Reporter
The article examines Amazon's revised 'Forte' performance review process, which requires corporate employees to provide specific examples of accomplishments…
Higher wages, toxic workplaces shaping employee attraction, retention in 2026: experts - Benefits Canada.com
This article reports on findings from a Conference Board of Canada survey presented during a recent webinar, focusing on the key drivers of employee attraction…
Evidence-Based Training Equips Sutter Nurses for Leadership Success - Sutter Health
This article addresses the challenge of preparing emerging nurse managers for leadership roles within a large not-for-profit health system. Sutter Health has…
Leadership Training in an AI World and Why Human Skills Are Still Key - hrnews.co.uk
This article addresses the question of what role human-centred leadership development plays in an increasingly AI-driven workplace. The author argues that as…
How Siemens Rebuilt Its Leadership Training Program - Newsweek
This case study examines Siemens' comprehensive overhaul of its leadership development program across its 45,000-person Americas workforce. The company…
Fostering A Strong Workplace Culture to Drive Business Growth - Hunt Scanlon Media
This article, published by Hunt Scanlon Media and drawing primarily from a Protis Global report and a TalentRise commentary, examines the relationship between…
Leadership Training Programs for Managers - U.S. Chamber of Commerce
This article addresses the challenge of selecting appropriate leadership training programs for managers, noting that 83% of organizations anticipate needing…
Management Leadership Program Shows Cast Members a Whole New World at Disneyland Resort - Disney Experiences
This article addresses the challenge of developing hourly operations employees into effective salaried managers within a large hospitality and entertainment…
A week in the life of: A Leadership Development Manager - Training Journal
This article presents a first-person account by Andy McConville, Leadership Development Manager at ResQ, describing the day-to-day responsibilities of a…
Why business leaders must empower managers to get the very best from their teams - HR Magazine
This article addresses the widespread phenomenon of undertrained managers in UK organisations, arguing that insufficient investment in management and…
Two in five employees do not think their manager is trained enough, survey finds - People Management
This article addresses the widespread gap in formal management training across UK organisations, drawing on two surveys: Unmind's Closing the Leadership Skills…
Why Your Organization’s Success Hinges on Effective Manager Training—and How to Get It Right - Spring Health
This article, published by Spring Health, addresses the organizational importance of manager effectiveness and the case for structured manager training…
The Art of Leadership: Uncovering Three P&G Secrets to People Development - Procter & Gamble
This article addresses how Procter & Gamble (P&G) has built a long-standing reputation as a leadership development organization, often described as an 'academy…
Employee engagement: 10 best practices for improving your culture - cio.com
This article addresses the challenge of employee disengagement in modern organizations, referencing the phenomenon of 'quiet quitting' and its estimated $7.8…
Companies Have Been Neglecting Their Leadership, And It Shows - Josh Bersin
This article presents findings from a two-year study on corporate leadership development conducted by Josh Bersin and his research firm, with financial support…
5 lessons on building a culture of innovation - Culture Amp
This article examines building innovation culture through insights from two leadership experts, Dr. Linda Hill and Seth Godin. The authors argue that…
A minute with Holly Lett, head of talent development - Fermilab (.gov)
This article is a brief profile interview with Holly Lett, Head of Talent Development at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a U.S. Department of…
HR veteran on teaching next generation: ‘Training and development is still in my blood’ - hcamag.com
This article profiles Mike Rude, a long-tenured HR executive and current Gartner executive partner, using his career trajectory as a frame to examine two…
53 trade unionists graduate from IndustriALL MENA leadership academy - industriall-union
This article reports on the graduation of 53 trade unionists from the IndustriALL MENA Leadership Academy in December 2022, bringing the total number of…
Human Resources for Health leadership and management: Overview - World Health Organization (WHO)
This document addresses the global shortage of qualified leaders and managers in Human Resources for Health (HRH) by presenting a structured curricula package…
Investigating Women’s Leadership Development in Sudan - The London School of Economics and Political Science
This article introduces an ongoing collaborative research project titled 'Understanding Barriers and Enablers to Women's Leadership in Sudan,' conducted by Dr…
Leadership and talent development with a hybrid twist at Master Halco - Chief Learning Officer
This article addresses the challenge of implementing formal leadership development and talent management programs in a large industrial manufacturing company —…
7 tips for a better employee performance review - Culture Amp
This article, authored by a Culture Amp content marketing employee, addresses the widespread dissatisfaction with traditional annual performance reviews and…
18 Proven Employee Retention Strategies for 2026 (Examples & Tools) - Vantage Circle
This article, published by Vantage Circle — an employee engagement and recognition software vendor — addresses the problem of voluntary employee turnover,…
Why Leadership Development Feels Broken: And How We’re Fixing It - Josh Bersin
This article, authored by Josh Bersin, addresses what it characterises as a systemic failure in corporate leadership development — a market exceeding $14…
Performance Appraisal Comments: A Manager's Playbook With 100+ Examples - Vantage Circle
This article addresses a widely documented problem in organizational performance management: the tendency of managers to write vague, backward-looking, and…
Five questions with Kara Hannigan, Training and Organizational Development Manager, Human Resources Division - kcemployees.com
This article is a short Q&A interview with Kara Hannigan, the newly appointed Training and Organizational Development Manager in the Human Resources Division…
A randomized waitlist-controlled trial of operant-based leadership training
This article addresses the persistent challenge of achieving lasting improvements in managers' performance feedback behaviors through leadership training. The…
The dark side of leadership: ineffective training and poor ethics education
This study addresses the influence of ethics training and education on unethical leadership behavior within Algerian public companies, a context marked by…
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