The Key to Ensuring Leadership Development Pays-OffOrganizations too often waste time and money providing leadership development programs that don’t work. Very little of their learning and development efforts significantly improve long term team or organizational results.

A major reason for this all too common performance improvement shortfall is lack of follow up. Participants are “sheep dipped” in a workshop or 360 assessment and feedback exercise as an act of faith that something will stick.

A big reason this “spray and pray” approach doesn’t work is lack of follow up. A Goldsmith/Morgan study of over 11,000 managers shows the huge difference follow up makes in perceived changes in leadership effectiveness after a development effort.

The Key to Ensuring Leadership Development Pays-Off

In his latest Forbes column, “In One Step: How to Ensure Leadership Development Works“, Jack Zenger contrasts the leading software company Symantec’s dramatic increases in leadership effectiveness with another company that saw no change. The big difference was follow up.

Just like a golf swing, the key to effective leadership development is follow through.


For over three decades, Jim Clemmer’s keynote presentations, workshops, management team retreats, seven bestselling books, articles, and blog have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. The Clemmer Group is the Canadian strategic partner of Zenger Folkman, an award-winning firm best known for its unique evidence-driven, strengths-based system for developing extraordinary leaders and demonstrating the performance impact they have on organizations.