Re-thinking Leadership Development
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If you’re serving the world as a coach, mentor, leader, trainer, consultant, or organizational developer, this is for you.
In our changing world, the generations moving into leadership roles are shaping leadership in ways that are meaningful to them, and our leadership development programs need to keep up.
If you’re still using a scripted method for conformity as an approach to developing new leaders, it’s time to re-think your strategy.
Is there a place for some of the training we’re doing? Sure! We still need to talk about important concepts like emotional intelligence, communication, and strategic thinking, but it needs to be MORE than that.
People construct their own realities and concepts of leadership, and they need to be able to envision themselves in leadership roles, not asked to look, think, and behave like someone who is nothing like them.
The way to help people grow is to help them change into a greater version of themselves who is capable of positive influence grounded in their own values and culture, not conform them to a model of someone else.
This requires those of us in the helping and teaching professions, and in organizational leadership roles to re-think our systems within our own organizational contexts in ways that make sense for the people who will soon be taking the helm.
In my recent video, I share a deeper understanding of what works in leadership development, and some things you may want to consider.
Drawing insights from three powerful articles about professional coaching that explore leadership development from different angles, I point out the few simple truths that connect them:
Leadership development must go deeper to be impactful.
It must be personal, contextual, relational, and ethical. And the systems in which leaders are being developed must reflect changing times and the changing needs of individuals.
Leadership development must be grounded in culture and context.
Leadership doesn’t exist in a vacuum—it’s shaped by culture, history, organizational context, and systems. So, our leadership development programs need to reflect the individuals within those to be meaningful and impactful.
Coaching is most effective when it supports self-definition, not conformity.
Leadership programs that try to force people into conformity instead of authenticity will not only fail, but may be perpetuating systems that exclude people who may thrive in leadership roles and have positive impact on their organizations and the world.
Psychological safety and relational support are essential for growth.
Safety, support, and systems matter. If you want people to be able to grow, and you want to foster their growth, you must provide them a culture and environment rooted in psychological safety and relational support.
Conclusion: leadership development is both individual and systemic work.
Leadership identity is not neutral. People construct their own realities and ways of seeing and processing their worlds. Programs that ignore race, gender, or personality complexity are not just incomplete—they’re potentially harmful.
Leadership development must center identity, values, and context—not surface-level performance.
Whether we're fostering growth or containing harm, leadership development is relational work.
If you’re a leadership practitioner, coach, organizational developer, educators, or anyone in a helping profession who wants to help develop and grow new leaders, think about leadership development in terms of fostering individual growth and systemic change.
If we want to develop real leaders—not just title-holders—we must:
Recognize the full complexity of human experience, including race, gender, trauma, and power.
Empower people to define leadership on their own terms—not just replicate outdated templates.
Build programs that offer coaching, community, challenge, and care.
And hold space for ethical reflection, especially when we encounter leaders whose impact may be harmful.
Leadership development, if it’s done well, doesn’t fit in a box, a binder, or a checklist.
It’s not clean and tidy, it’s messy, personal, and non-linear.
To be transformational, and I mean to REALLY transform a person, an organization, or a community, we must let people be who they are and define their own brand of leadership, and we need to re-think systems that allow for that.
Transformational growth and leadership does not happen in a vacuum. It’s cultivated in places where there is psychological safety and trust, where difference cultures can be celebrated and collaborative, where individuals can be authentic and define their own ways of leading.
So, as you’re developing your next leadership program, maybe start by asking, what’s missing, who did I leave out, and what’s possible if I re-think this? How can I guide people to be effective leaders rooted in their own individuality rather than trying to make them conform to a pre-established model that might be outdated? What’s the legacy I can leave as a coach by helping others become better versions of themselves, capable of leading in impactful and transformative ways?
References
Desormeaux, L. (2023). Case study: Coaching in a career-advancement and leadership-development program for women. Psychology of Leaders and Leadership, 26(2), 127–147. https://doi.org/10.1037/mgr0000140
Kilburg, R. R. (2023). Scoundrels: Navigating the Dark Sextad Plus Schema (DSPS) in leadership and executive coaching engagements. Psychology of Leaders and Leadership, 26(3–4), 218–240. https://doi.org/10.1037/mgr0000143
Mbilishaka, A., Vixamar-Owens, D.Z., Fredericks, A., and Massey, A. (2023). Dialogues in leadership herstory: Exploring the experiences of black women faculty in a leadership-development program. Consulting Psychological Journal, 75(1), 119-134. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000228