From Programmes to Systems: What Enables and Hinders Effective Leadership Development in the 21st Century
Organisations invest billions in leadership development, but too often the outcomes don’t match the effort. My research reveals the specific conditions that make leadership development truly work, offering practical insights organisations can apply today.
Context
Organisations continue to navigate volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) challenges, such as globalisation, digitisation, and health crises, which require leaders to adapt and exhibit new behaviours to motivate and mobilise others effectively (Lawrence, 2013). However, perceptions of how well leadership development initiatives equip leaders to handle such complexities are consistently low.
In 2014, McKinsey found only 7% of senior leaders believed they were developing global leaders effectively, and, similarly, Deloitte found only 13% of organisations thought they had done a quality job training their leaders (Gurdjian et al., 2014; Schwartz et al., 2014). These numbers are alarming considering that in 2018, it was estimated that organisations spent $370 billion on leadership development solutions globally with the USA alone spending $169 billion (Training Industry, 2020). Whilst there has been a surge of scientific interest in leadership development over the last 20 years, the field remains underdeveloped compared to the general leadership field (Day, 2024). Thus, this study aims to identify the enablers and barriers to effective leadership development in the 21st century.
What We Did
17 individuals from eight industries were interviewed to explore their experiences of various leadership development initiatives. To ensure diverse perspectives, participants were recruited across three roles:
commissioners (clients of leadership development vendors) (N = 6)
providers (E.g., consultants, in-house leadership development professionals, etc.) (N = 5)
participants of leadership development programmes (N = 6)
The sample was diverse in terms of gender, age, country, sector, years in current role, and number of reports. Interview guides were tailored for each participant group to ensure relevance to their specific roles. Participants were recruited through purposive and volunteer sampling via an online advertisement. Interviews were conducted, recorded, and transcribed, and included 11 core questions with additional follow-up questions exploring participants’ best and worst leadership development experiences. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns and themes within the data. Ethical approval was granted by City St George’s Research Ethics Committee.
What We Found
Six themes were identified, representing the complexity of effective leadership development in the 21st century. Effective leadership development works as a system, influenced by what happens before, during, and after a programme. Success also depends on having a well-designed measurement plan and on the wider organisational context.
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Participants consistently emphasised that leadership development works best when treated as a system, not just a course. Rather than only considering the programme itself, this means it is crucial to consider what happens before, during, and after programmes, how success is measured, and the organisation’s context. In this view, development is more of an ecosystem and ongoing process than a one-off classroom event. This is further explained in the following sub-themes.
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Two barriers to effective leadership development occur before a programme starts. These are not properly diagnosing the organisation’s needs and requiring participation. Without effectively assessing the organisation’s needs, programmes feel disconnected from strategy, and participants often do not know why they are there. Also, requiring attendance undermines motivation, which can negatively affect the whole group.
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Three main enablers stood out during programmes:
In-person cohorts over time: participants shared that building trusting relationships and having sufficient time during and between sessions to learn, connect, and reflect were pivotal in making learning stick.
Self-awareness: almost everyone cited this as the most impactful skill to learn and as a prerequisite for future leadership growth.
Experiential learning: challenging projects where participants applied new skills were seen as the most effective.
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Many participants shared the importance of ongoing support after leaving the classroom. They noted that learning often fizzles due to not having enough time to continue applying learnings and unsustained accountability, whether that comes from themselves, the programme, their leader, or the organisation. Participants also suggested check-ins, bite-sized follow-up workshops, or alumni meetups as ways to keep momentum going.
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Designing a measurement plan for leadership development initiatives is necessary to evaluate their effectiveness; however, this is rarely done and is challenging. Participants highlighted the importance of identifying key metrics and measuring a baseline, followed by immediate and longer-term evaluation to determine the lasting impact.
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Many participants emphasised that organisational culture and leadership behaviours strongly impact their development. Without support from managers or when leaders fail to model the behaviours participants are learning, development efforts quickly lose traction. Conversely, when senior leaders participate in and sponsor initiatives, it signals priority, builds a common language, and reinforces change.
Implications / Takeaways
The study found that leadership development is most effective when approached as a holistic system with enablers and barriers considered at every stage before, during, and after programmes, and within the measurement plan and organisational context.
To ensure organisations invest well in leadership development initiatives, prioritising enablers and addressing barriers within the system, some recommendations are:
Integration of new behaviours and leadership goals into personal development plans to maintain priority and ensure accountability
Managers should support their team members’ leadership development by encouraging participation in growth opportunities, protecting time to practise new skills, and reinforcing accountability by sharing feedback
Managers and organisational leaders should model desired behaviours by participating in and sponsoring leadership development systems
Benefits in partnering with external Organisational Psychologists to diagnose organisational needs and leadership gaps. Also to design and implement well-structured leadership development programmes and support with measuring their impact.
When leadership development is approached holistically, it becomes more than individual programmes: it becomes a system that helps leaders and organisations reach their full potential.
Researcher Reflection
I expected a fair amount of data to relate to the design and delivery of leadership development programmes, however, I did not expect so much beyond that to impact their efficacy. Furthermore, a majority of the barriers to effective leadership development were found before and after programmes, and within the greater organisational context. This suggests more effort and resources should be invested in these components to ensure programmes that are designed and delivered well are as effective as possible.
Also, the study cast a wide net covering many topics, so next, I would dive deeper into certain aspects of the leadership development system to provide more detailed and practical recommendations for organisations and providers.
Why was it unpublished?
I have considered pursuing publication, but ultimately decided that for my career aspirations, the value of having a published article would likely not equal or exceed the time and effort required. Also, I learned an enormous amount through this study that will be directly applicable to my career; however, any insights gained specifically about the publication process would be of limited practical value to me.
Author: Ellyn Murakami
Role: Practitioner
Project Affiliation: City St. George's, University of London
Year research concluded: 2025
Type of Research: Qualitative, Masters Dissertation
Ellyn Murakami is an organisational psychologist specialising in leadership and talent development, with over six years of experience designing and delivering evidence-based learning programmes that enhance performance and well-being at work. She led large-scale leadership and inclusion initiatives in U.S. organisations such as ECMC Group and Timberland Partners. Her current research explores enablers and barriers to effective leadership development in the 21st century, with a broader interest in how AI, learning design, and psychological science can be integrated to support sustainable growth and performance.
Get in touch with Ellyn on LinkedIn
References
Day, D. V. (2024). Developing leaders and leadership: Principles, practices, and processes (First). Palgrave Macmillan Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-59068-9
Gurdjian, P., Halbeisen, T., & Lane, K. (2014). Why leadership development programs fail. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/leading%20in%20the%2021st%20century/why%20leadership%20development%20programs%20fail/why%20leadership%20development%20programs%20fail.pdf?shouldIndex=false
Lawrence, K. (2013). Developing leaders in a VUCA environment. www.execdev.unc.edu
Schwartz, J., Bersin, J., & Pelster, B. (2014). Global human capital trends 2014 - Engaging the 21st-century workforce. https://www.deloitte.co.uk/makeconnections/assets/pdf/global-human-capital-trends-2014.pdf
Training Industry, Inc. (2020). The size of the training industry. https://trainingindustry.com/wiki/learning-services-and-outsourcing/size-of-training-industry/
Acknowledgements
The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the support of many people. First, thank you to my husband for the endless encouragement and championing of me. Next, thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Jutta Tobias-Mortlock. Your balance of guidance and questions that challenged and stretched my thinking was indispensable. As Bill Bradley wisely said, “Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better,” and that statement could not be truer for you.
Thank you also to my family, friends, and mentor for being my unwavering cheerleaders and supporting me though every stage of completing this degree. Finally, thank you to my generous participants for not only providing an hour of their busy schedules, but more importantly, providing rich and meaningful insights regarding their experiences.