8 Reasons Leadership Training Fails

REASONS
Leadership
Trainings Fail
www.citruslearningsystems.com
(And insights on how to make them work)
CitrusLearning Systems

Lack of Participant
Buy-In for the
Intervention
1
Why Leadership Trainings Fail

for them
developmental
BELVIEVING
NO NEED
they have
Participants often
DISMISS
interventions

They are not provided
with a mirror
…and how each of these
affects goal achievement
to their individual leadership
strengths & development areas…

How to Overcome This
The intervention
must begin with
participants receiving
inputs
on their individual
strengths &
development areas

YOUR ‘MIRROR’ COULD BE
Assessment centre reports
Etc.,
180 survey reports on the
participant’s skill levels and
practices
Knowledge test reports
Performance data

Show them that
they have a need
to learn/ grow
BOTTOM LINE

The governance structure is in
the organization not being
involved in the intervention
2

Converting any new skill
of these skills
implementation
someone to monitor
into a habit requires

That ‘someone’ must be your
(the governance structure in your organisation)
participant’s managers…

A simple briefing
about the intervention
More than…
OR
A formal intervention launch session,
where the participant’s
managers get invited to

What to do instead
Show them how the intervention connects to their KPIs
Share the best practices you will be imparting in the intervention
Get their feedback & tweak your content
Inform them how these best practices need to be
evaluated in their regular reviews

Sensitise them how governance is their responsibility
(yours is skill development)
Turn over all governance responsibilities to them
What to do instead
Monitor governance
Give them tools to use to conduct these evaluations

How this helps
Getting these leaders involved from the outset will ensure
the development of the participants and
organizational effectiveness

Training formats
unsuited for the
modern-day learner
3

Most trainings last
for a day or two
(or worse still, for three
or four), where conceptual
knowledge and skill development
inputs are presented together

The human brain is not
designed to take in too
much information at a
time
The trouble with large format training
i

The trouble with
large format training
conceptual knowledge
development and skill
building together leads to
message overload
Chunking,
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________

Also, people’s
Microsoft study results
Why training fails
spans are
shrinking
attention
Click below for the

The modern-day learner
consumes content in
bite-sized chunks
(think YouTube, WhatsApp,
Twitter)
Why training fails
And not in large formats

Traditional e-learning and
classroom sessions are
large format,
clunky and untuned to
the learning style of
modern-day learners
Why training fails

Online lessons needs
to be in engaging,
micro formats
(video, infographic, podcast
or slideshow format in
two to ten minute chunks)
How to avoid this & make training work

These need to be
drip-fed to participants
and must be mobile
and web-enabled

Conceptual
knowledge
should ideally
be shared online
in bite-sized bits
2 – 4 hours long
classroom
sessions focused
on skill
development

Learning treated as
an event not
a process
4

Skill development
is a journey, not an event

We also forget the
bulk of what we
learn within a short
time of learning it
Research ‘The Forgetting Curve’
by clicking here

Learning effectiveness requires
multiple touchpoints
and
recurrent messaging
for the lessons to be imbibed
and implemented

The post-workshop
curriculum must include
revisiting lessons
learned
participants

Test and
grade them
on their grasp
of these lessons
Well done, you
chose correctly!

Lack of rigour
around the learning
implementation process5

Participants often think
of implementation as
an optional extra, and
something avoidable

When Branding
the intervention,
communicate that it is a
(developmental/ change)
project they are
enlisting for…
(and not for a learning programme)

The
learning events
should be projected as
aids
to help them in
project implementation

Participants must recognise that
implementation is
the desired end of
the intervention
(not the learning event/ programme)

Lack of
implementation
support for participants6

Our brain uses
routines to
drive our behaviour

Even well-intentioned
participants will soon….

…get side-tracked by
the daily grind of work
and past habits

Participants should receive
constant reminders
about
implementation

Track and assess
lesson implementation

Use an
automated tracking
and reminder system
to help you in this task
(or do this manually)

Actually, automate as much intervention as is possible:
Uploading, scheduling and releasing lessons
Getting participants to commit to sessions/ lessons
Tracking lesson completion
Sending out communication/ reminders
Grading participants
Automate as much of the training as is possible

Real life is harder
than a controlled
classroom environment

Participants will flounder
when trying to implement
lessons in real life

Difficulties in
implementation will result in
participants ignoring
lessons and
returning to
established routines
Why training fails

Post-workshop coaching
support is critical,
if participants are to successfully
implement workshop lessons

Lack of content
relevance7

Training initiatives often use a ‘one size fits all’
approach to learning content
Why training fails

Learning content is
not contextualized
to address the learner’s
unique environment

Consequently, participants
don’t see how
they can use
lessons imparted

Create content that
mimics your
learner’s
environment
as closely as possible

The intervention
lacks ‘aspirational’ status8

You gotta sell it to them!
People don’t buy a service just
because you tell them it’s available

connects to
their KPIs or
(*Key performance indicators)
How
Participants need to see
*
the training
goals

How it will help
them with
their career
advancement
Participants need to see

It will be seen merely as
an intervention by
‘those Pesky HR folk’
Otherwise…

Successful course completion
could be made a pre-
requisite for career
advancement
Connect the
programme to their
career development

Brand & market
the programme
extensively
Communicate
how it will help in
their current and
future roles

Communicate about a programme
progress & effectiveness dashboard
that will be published effectively to
senior leadership

In conclusion:
How to ensure leadership
training success

Provide participants with a mirror into development areas
Get the ‘governance system’ of the organisation involved
Work on providing the intervention ‘aspirational status’
Think bite-sized, engaging and continuous (not large-
format and clunky)

Ensure a post-workshop learning curriculum
Ensure rigour around implementation
Contextualise your content
Provide implementation support

CitrusLearning Systems
Mumbai, India

8 Reasons Leadership Training Fails

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