Management Training and Leadership Development

Most American businesses don't understand the difference between management training and leadership development, and wrongly believe the answer to middle manager shortages is simply to throw money at the problem.

As reported by Management-Issues, a recent Bersin study found that more than half of American businesses say they are facing leadership shortages, primarily at the mid-management and director level -- yet often do not know what to do about it.

Other findings:

• Four out of 10 firms put leadership development programs in place simply because they are desperate to plug this shortage of internal leadership candidates.
• The best leadership programs need to be guided right from the top and not solely led by the training and development side of the business.

Bersin found that most organisations still confuse management training with leadership development. More than a third of companies outsourced at least half of the content of their leadership development programs. Just over a tenth – 13 per cent – kept all their programs in-house.

BOTTOMLINE: There is a big difference between management training and leadership development. "To be successful, the best leadership programs need to be guided right from the top and not solely led by the training and development side of the business. Successful initiatives must have strong internal executive sponsorship and engagement."