Leader development has become quite a hot topic. Globally, organizations are spending approximately $370 billion a year on leader development efforts. Initiatives like the Carnegie Foundation’s Classification for Leadership for Public Purpose and rankings like Time Magazine’s “Best Schools for Future Leaders” show that leader development has appeal in higher ed, too.
But for all this popularity, there’s also a lot of confusion. “Leader development” is often used as a buzzword, applied haphazardly to a wide range of efforts—training, mentoring, personality workshops—many of which vary in both relevance and effectiveness.
However, leader development isn’t just the latest corporate fad, but something with real meaning and importance. And that’s why defining it clearly and well matters more than ever.
When I talk about leader development at the Doerr Institute, people’s first question is almost always, “What leadership classes do you teach?”
It’s a fair question. I work at a university. I’m a Psych PhD. Doerr’s workshops are held in classrooms. I have shelves full of leadership books marked up with sticky notes—heck, my last job was being a professor.
But here’s the thing; I don’t teach leadership. The Doerr Institute doesn’t teach leadership. Because that’s not what leader development is.
What IS Leader Development?
Leadership capacity isn’t about knowing leadership theory. Someone can read every leadership textbook written and be unable to lead their way out of a paper bag. Meanwhile, history abounds with great leaders who never took a single leadership course.
Leader development isn’t about teaching people knowledge or information; it’s about changing how they see themselves. Put another way, leader development isn’t about what people learn, but about who they become.
Take feedback, for example. Providing clear, timely feedback is a core leadership skill. You can learn every model, memorize every framework, rehearse key definitions, and pass every test.
But if giving feedback still makes you cringe—if the very idea of confrontation shuts you down—then it doesn’t matter what you know. Because who you are hasn’t changed. And if you’re not someone who can give feedback, then you’re not yet leading.
In this case, leader development doesn’t mean just learning specific strategies. It means building the confidence and self-concept—the self-efficacy—to actually follow through.
There’s no single path to leader development. It’s what scholars call “equifinal”: there are multiple ways to get there, from formal workshops to real-world challenges to coaching. Scholars like David Day, Cynthia McCauley, and Bruce Avolio have written extensively about leader development across different contexts and goals. However, at the end of the day, effective leader development transforms who someone is—not just what they know.
Why Should You Care?
So, now we’ve talked about what leader development is, but why should you care? Even smaller-scale initiatives come with a price tag, and it’s not cynical to ask what the payoff is. Organizations—even mission-driven ones like universities and nonprofits—have to think practically, and costs need to be justified.
Fortunately, leader development is far more than a feel-good initiative. For years, research has shown that organizations investing in intentional, evidence-based development see measurable gains in both employee and organizational performance. That translates into real savings: increased productivity, better execution, and internal promotions that reduce the need for costly external hires. Some programs have reported ROI well over 100%.
Done well, leader development isn’t a luxury—it’s one of the smartest investments any organization can make.
Furthermore, leader development’s benefits extend beyond any one organization or industry. Leader development benefits everyone. In a post-COVID world defined by institutional distrust, remote work, and the rise of AI, we are entering uncharted territory that will reshape how we live, work, and relate to one another.
These aren’t technical problems you can solve with a textbook or a how-to guide. They’re what leadership scholar Ronald Heifetz calls adaptive challenges—problems that can’t be resolved with existing knowledge or a traditional education model.
Navigating these challenges will require leaders who have built the internal foundation—the identity, confidence, and courage—to confront that uncertainty.
Leader Development and the Future
This is especially urgent when we think about both who our future leaders are and who they aren’t—at least, not yet! Gen Z, the “Zoomers,” are entering the workforce en masse under uniquely challenging conditions. Many had their education disrupted by the pandemic, started their careers in remote or hybrid environments, and are coming of age during a period of intense social unrest. It’s no surprise that employers are raising concerns about Gen Z’s soft skills, communication abilities, and overall readiness to lead.
However, this isn’t a generational failing. There’s nothing inherent about Gen Z that makes them unfit to lead. What we’re seeing is a developmental gap—one that we can close.
Whether through higher education initiatives or workplace-based programs, leader development can help Zoomers grow into the leaders we’ll need to navigate an uncertain future. That means moving beyond simply trying to “teach” them. We need to develop their self-concepts—not just increase their knowledge. Gen Z isn’t a liability—they’re a leader development opportunity!
Leader development can’t be one-size-fits-all. It needs an equifinal approach, one acknowledging that there are many paths to the same goal of transforming who people are when it comes to leadership. Leader development must therefore be contextual, measurable, and intentional—and the conversations around it should be, too.
We need to start having broader conversations, across campuses, companies, and communities, about what leader development looks like, why it matters, and how we can best practice it. Whether in higher education, healthcare, tech, the nonprofit world, or anywhere else, I’d encourage you to start having that conversation where you are. Ask who people need to become in order to lead in your context, and how you can best help that come to fruition. Because developing better leaders isn’t a side project or a luxury; it’s the work that makes all other work possible.
Sources/References/Works Cited
Abner, G., Valdez, B., & Perry, J. L. (2021). Elevating the Case for Leadership Development Programs: Return on Investment Evaluations. Public Administration Review, 81(2), 291–294. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13284
Avolio, B. J., Avey, J. B., & Quisenberry, D. (2010). Estimating return on leadership development investment. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(4), 633–644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.06.006
Day, D. V. (2024). Developing Leaders and Leadership: Principles, Practices, and Processes. Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-59068-9
Day, D. V., Riggio, R. E., Tan, S. J., & Conger, J. A. (2021). Advancing the science of 21st-century leadership development: Theory, research, and practice. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(5), 101557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101557
Heifetz, R. A., Linsky, M., & Grashow, A. (2009). The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World. Harvard Business Press.
Ryan, I., Myers, B., & Mooney, S. (2021). Leader development: A pathway for social change? Leadership, 17(3), 296–317. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715020980295