What Makes a Leadership Development Programme Actually Work
What Makes a Leadership Development Programme Actually Work (And Why Most Training Falls Apart After the First Busy Week)
The biggest frustration with leadership and management training
If you’re a director, HR manager, business owner, or a manager looking to develop your skills, chances are you’ve felt this frustration before.
- You invest in leadership and management training
- People attend
- The feedback is good
- Everyone leaves feeling positive and motivated
Then… real life kicks in.
The inbox fills up. Meetings take over. Targets need hitting. Team issues appear out of nowhere. And before anyone’s had a chance to properly apply what they learned, the craziness of the working day takes over.
A few weeks later, most of the learning has quietly slipped away - along with the good intentions.
This is one of the biggest challenges organisations face with leadership development today. Not a lack of training. But a lack of training that actually sticks.
So the real question isn’t “Do we need leadership
training?”
It’s “What makes a leadership development programme actually work?”
What Makes a Leadership Development Programme Actually Work
Why one-day leadership courses rarely change behaviour
Let’s be honest, one-day training courses aren’t useless. But on their own, they’re rarely enough.
Leadership isn’t something you can download in a day.
You can’t:
- Build confidence in a few hours
- Change habits overnight
- Learn how to handle difficult conversations without practice
- Become a better leader just by listening
What usually happens after a one-day course is this:
- Notes go into a folder (never to be seen again)
- Managers want to try new things but don’t quite know how
- Pressure pushes people back into old habits
- There’s no follow-up or support
It’s not that people don’t care.
It’s that leadership development needs time, space, and reinforcement.
So what does make a leadership development programme work?
From working with organisations all over the UK and internationally, there are a few clear ingredients that make the difference between training that fades… and development that genuinely changes how people lead.
Let’s break it down.
1. It has to be continuous, not a one-off
The biggest difference between training that fails and development that works is time.
Leadership skills develop through:
- Trying things out
- Reflecting on what happened
- Adjusting approach
- Trying again
A programme that runs over months - not days - gives people permission to grow gradually, without pressure to be perfect.
This is why the Online Leadership and Management Growth Academy runs over 12 months. It allows learning to settle, confidence to build, and behaviours to change properly.
2. It must fit around real working life (not fight it)
If leadership development feels like extra work, it won’t last.
The programmes that work are designed to fit into:
- Busy diaries
- Real teams
- Real challenges
- Real pressure
Online leadership development works so well when it’s done properly because people can:
- Learn in short, manageable chunks
- Apply learning immediately
- Come back to content when they need it
- Learn without cancelling half their diary
That’s why supported online learning has become such a powerful development tool.
3. Action beats information (every time)
Here’s a hard truth.
Most people don’t need more leadership theory.
They need help using what they already know.
What makes a leadership development programme actually work is action:
- Practical activities
- Real workplace application
- Reflection on real situations
- Tools managers can use straight away
Inside the Growth Academy, learning isn’t passive. Managers don’t just watch videos - they do something with the learning, then bring it back to reflect and improve.
That’s where confidence comes from.
4. Support and accountability change everything
This is where most programmes fall apart.
People leave training full of good intentions… and then they’re left on their own.
The programmes that work include:
- Ongoing support
- Regular check-ins
- Space to ask questions
- Someone who helps people stay on track
The Growth Academy includes monthly live support and coaching sessions with me, which makes a huge difference.
It keeps people focused.
It normalises challenges.
It stops learning from drifting.
And yes - it gently nudges people when motivation dips (because it always does at some point).
Managers Learning Practical Leadership Skills - In Person and Online Leadership ProgramsA quick introduction to me
If we haven’t met yet, I’m Adrian Close.
I’ve managed teams, built businesses, led through growth and pressure, and experienced the confidence wobbles that come with leadership responsibility. I’ve made mistakes, learned from them (sometimes the hard way), and developed my leadership skills through experience - not just theory.
Alongside that, I continually study leadership, management, behaviour, and performance, and I learn just as much from the many clients I work with across different industries and countries.
That mix of real-world leadership experience and ongoing learning shapes everything I deliver.
People aren’t learning from someone reading a script.
They’re learning from someone who understands the reality of leading people.
Confidence is built gradually, not forced
One of the biggest myths in leadership development is that confidence magically appears once someone has the “right tools”.
In reality, confidence grows when people:
- Try something new
- See that it works
- Reflect on the experience
- Get reassurance when it feels uncomfortable
A good leadership development programme creates psychological safety - space to practise without fear of getting it wrong.
That’s a big reason supported online learning works so well.
Why supported online learning works better than you might think
Some people still assume online leadership development is impersonal.
In practice, supported online learning often feels more personal than classroom training because:
- People learn at their own pace
- They bring real challenges to sessions
- Support happens over time, not once
- Learning becomes part of the job
It also scales brilliantly, whether you’re developing:
- One manager
- A small leadership group
Or 100+ managers across an organisation
Case study: What happens when development is done properly
One organisation I worked with had relied on one-day leadership courses for years.
Attendance was good. Feedback was positive. Results were mixed.
We moved them onto a supported online leadership development programme, tailored to their organisation.
Over time, they saw:
- Managers applying learning gradually, not all at once
- More confident conversations with team members
- Better quality one-to-ones
- Less avoidance of difficult issues
- More consistent leadership behaviours
Perhaps most importantly, managers felt supported rather than judged.
Leadership development stopped being something they had to survive, and became something that genuinely helped them.
What this means for you
If you’re exploring leadership and management development, the question isn’t “Which course looks best?”
It’s:
- Does it run long enough to change behaviour?
- Does it fit real working life?
- Does it include action, not just information?
- Is there ongoing support and accountability?
That’s what makes a leadership development programme actually work.
Supported Online Leadership and Management Training - I too This Team into the Peak District 😀
What Makes a Leadership Development Programme Actually Work - Curious to see how this works in practice?
If you’re tired of leadership training that sounds good but fades fast, the Online Leadership and Management Growth Academy offers a different approach.
You’re very welcome to:
- Ask questions
- Talk through your situation
- Take a guided tour of the academy
- Explore whether it’s right for you or your organisation
No pressure. No hard sell. Just a proper conversation. Contact one of the team here
Leadership development doesn’t need to be overwhelming.
It just needs to be done properly.
And when it is, the results speak for themselves.
What Makes a Leadership Development Programme Actually Work
Companies That Have Received Leadership and Management training From Us - Both On and Off-line
What Makes a Leadership Development Programme Actually Work
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Why Most Leadership and Management Training Doesn’t Stick - What Makes a Leadership Development Programme Actually Work - The Real Difference Between Management Training and Leadership Development - Why Leadership Development Should Be a 12 Month Journey - Online Leadership Development vs Classroom Training: What Really Works - How to Develop Confident Managers in a Busy Workplace - The Hidden Cost of Poor Leadership in Organisations - What Great Leadership Development Looks Like in Practice
For HR, L&D & Decision Makers
How HR Teams Can Develop Leaders at Scale Without Burning Out - A Smarter Way to Develop New Managers in Growing Organisations - Leadership Development That Aligns with Appraisals and Performance Reviews - How to Create a Consistent Leadership Standard Across Your Organisation - Why One-Off Leadership Courses Are a False Economy - What to Look for in an Online Leadership Development Programme - How to Support Managers Beyond Initial Training - Leadership Development as Part of Your Talent Pipeline
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How to Train 100+ Managers Without Losing Quality - Why Scalable Leadership Development Is a Business Advantage - Creating a Bespoke Leadership Development Programme for Your Organisation - How Online Leadership Training Can Support Rapid Growth - Leadership Development for Multi-Site and Hybrid Teams - Why Consistency Matters in Leadership Training Across Large Teams
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I’ve Just Been Promoted to Manager – Now What? - The Skills Every New Manager Needs (But Rarely Gets Taught) - How to Build Confidence as a First-Time Manager - Leadership Skills You Can Start Using This Week - Why Being a Great Manager Isn’t About Having All the Answers - How to Lead People Who Used to Be Your Peers - The Soft Skills That Make Hard Management Problems Easier
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Why Confidence Is a Skill – Not a Personality Trait - What Leadership Pressure Teaches You About Yourself - How to Lead Well When You Don’t Feel Confident - Building Resilience as a Manager in a Demanding Role - Leadership Lessons Learned the Hard Way - Why Self-Awareness Is the Foundation of Great Leadership
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Leadership and Management Development in London: What Organisations Need Today - Why London Organisations Are Rethinking Leadership Training - Leadership Challenges Facing Managers in Fast-Paced London Teams - Online Leadership Development Programmes for London Businesses - Delivering Leadership Training Across London and the M25
Evidence, Appraisals & ROI
How to Measure the Impact of Leadership Development - Leadership Development That Creates Real Behaviour Change - Why Evidence-Based Learning Improves Leadership Performance - Turning Leadership Development Into Career Progression - How Leadership Training Supports Better One-to-Ones - Showing Real ROI From Leadership and Management Training
Comparison & Myth-Busting
Is Online Leadership Development Really Effective? - Do Managers Need Training or Coaching – Or Both? - Can Leadership Skills Really Be Taught? - Why Experience Alone Doesn’t Make a Great Manager
What Makes a Leadership Development Programme Actually Work, what makes a leadership development programme actually work? Discover why most training doesn’t stick and how supported online learning delivers real results.
What Makes a Leadership Development Programme Actually Work