Why Most Leadership and Management Training Does Not Stick

Why Most Leadership and Management Training Does Not Stick (And What Actually Makes the Difference)

The biggest frustration with leadership and management training today

If you’re a director, HR manager, business owner, or even an individual manager looking to grow, this will probably sound familiar.

• You invest time and money in a leadership or management training course
• Your managers attend
• They enjoy it
• They leave feeling motivated and full of good intentions

Then Monday morning arrives.

Emails flood in. Meetings take over. Deadlines loom. Team issues pop up. The pressure of the day kicks back in, and before anyone realises it, most of what was learned fades into the background.

This is the biggest issue organisations face with leadership and management training.

• Not that people don’t care
• Not that the content wasn’t useful
• But because one-off training simply can’t compete with the pace of real working life

And this is why most leadership and management training doesn’t stick.

What usually happens after a one-day course is this:

• Notes get written… then forgotten

• New ideas feel overwhelming to apply

• Managers revert to old habits under pressure

• There’s no follow-up, accountability, or support

Within weeks - sometimes days - most of the learning is gone.

That’s not a failure of the learner.
It’s a failure of the training model.

Most managers leave training genuinely wanting to do better.

They want to:

• Communicate more clearly
• Handle difficult conversations better
• Be more confident as a leader
• Support their teams properly

But intention alone doesn’t create change.

Leadership skills are behaviours - and behaviours only change when people:

• Practise them repeatedly
• Try things in real situations
• Reflect on what worked and what didn’t
• Get support when it feels uncomfortable

Without that, even the best training becomes just another forgotten event.

This is Where Most (not all) Leadership Training Goes Wrong

From my experience working with organisations all over the UK and beyond, leadership and management training usually fails because it:

• Tries to cover too much, too quickly
• Assumes everyone can apply learning immediately
• Doesn’t account for pressure and confidence issues
• Ends just as people need support the most

Leadership development shouldn’t feel like an interruption to work - it should fit into work.

That’s exactly why I created something different.

The Online Leadership and Management Growth Academy was designed specifically to solve this problem.

Instead of trying to “fix” leadership in a day, it provides continuous development over time.

It’s a 12-month online leadership and management development programme that:

• Fits around busy working lives

• Focuses on real-world leadership challenges

• Builds confidence gradually

• Supports behaviour change, not just learning

Managers don’t just learn — they grow into the role.

Practical learning that actually gets used

One of the biggest differences is that learning isn’t passive.

The academy includes:

• Short, practical video lessons
• Clear, actionable activities
• Tools and handouts managers can actually use
• A development folder that shows progress

Managers apply what they learn straight into their role, not “one day when things calm down”.

Because let’s be honest — things rarely calm down.

Ongoing support makes all the difference

Another reason most leadership training doesn’t stick is simple: people are left on their own.

The Growth Academy includes monthly live support and coaching sessions with me.

These sessions:

• Keep people accountable
• Create space to talk about real challenges
• Help managers problem-solve confidently
• Stop learning from drifting off course

This ongoing support is often the missing piece — and it’s where real confidence starts to build.

A Quick Introduction To Me

If we haven’t met yet, I’m Adrian Close

I haven’t learned leadership from textbooks alone. I’ve managed teams, owned businesses, faced pressure, made mistakes, and had my own confidence wobbles along the way.

Like many leaders, I’ve had moments where I questioned myself, felt overwhelmed, and had to work out how to lead effectively when the pressure was on.

Alongside my own experience, I continually study leadership, management, behaviour, and human performance - and I learn just as much from the many clients I work with across different industries and countries.

That combination of real experience, ongoing learning, and real-world application shapes everything inside the academy.

People aren’t learning from someone reading slides.
They’re learning from someone who understands the reality of leadership.

Some people still worry that online leadership development won’t feel personal enough.

In reality, supported online learning often works better than traditional courses because:

• People learn at their own pace
• They revisit content when they need it
• Learning fits into real work challenges
• Support is ongoing, not one-off

It becomes part of how people work - not something extra to squeeze in.

Case study: What real change looks like

One organisation I worked with had over 100 team leaders and managers across different departments.

Previously, they relied on one-day leadership courses. Attendance was good, feedback was positive — but behaviour didn’t change consistently.

We moved them onto a bespoke version of the Online Leadership and Management Growth Academy, tailored to their organisation and industry.

Here’s what changed:

• Managers applied learning gradually, not all at once
• Confidence improved because people weren’t rushed
• Difficult conversations were handled better
• One-to-ones became more meaningful
• Leadership standards became more consistent across teams

Perhaps most importantly, managers felt supported, not judged or pressured.

Leadership development stopped being an event — it became a system.

Why this approach works for individuals too

This isn’t just for large organisations.

If you’re an individual manager or team leader, the academy works just as well because:

• You’re not left to figure things out alone
• You get structure without overwhelm
• You build confidence steadily
• You have support when leadership feels tough

Many people tell me it’s the first time leadership development has actually felt manageable.

The real reason leadership development needs to change

The workplace has changed.

Leadership training needs to reflect:

• Busy diaries
• Hybrid working
• Constant pressure
• Real human challenges

One-day courses alone can’t do that anymore.

Supported, ongoing development can.

Why Most Leadership and Management Training Does Not Stick - Curious to see how this works?

If you’re tired of leadership training that doesn’t stick — and you want something that:

• Works in the real world
• Develops confidence over time
• Supports managers properly
• Fits individuals and whole teams

Then I’d love to show you how the Online Leadership and Management Growth Academy works.

You’re welcome to:

• Ask questions
• Talk through your situation
• Take a guided tour of the academy

No pressure - just a proper conversation about what would actually help.

Leadership development should support people, not overwhelm them.

And when it’s done properly, it really does make a difference.