Leadership training is often mistaken for leadership development and that simple misstep can cost organisations millions.
It was the third session in a five-week leadership programme for a major pan-African logistics company. The delegates had gathered again in the plush training room; coffee in hand, notebooks open, waiting for the day’s module on “leading through uncertainty.”
But something felt off.
They weren’t engaged. They answered questions dutifully but not thoughtfully. Breakouts were shallow. The energy was flat. After the session, I walked over to one of the mid-level managers I’d seen lingering at the back of the room.
“How’s the programme going?” I asked gently.
She hesitated, then gave a polite smile. “It’s okay,” she said. “The sessions are fine… but honestly, it feels like we’re being talked at. Not developed.”
That sentence hit me hard.
It confirmed a suspicion I’d had since the start of the engagement: the organisation thought they were doing leadership development, but what they had commissioned was leadership training.
And the difference is not semantics.
It’s strategy.
It’s impact.
It’s the difference between ticking a box, and building a bench.
The confusion: Leadership training ≠ Leadership development
A few weeks before the programme started, I’d sat with the HR Director and some senior executives to understand their goals.
“Our managers need to lead better,” one executive had said. “We want to run a leadership development programme; some kind of intensive bootcamp to sharpen their skills. Five weeks should be enough, right?”
I remember asking, “What does success look like at the end of this?”
The response was quick: “That they know more about leadership.”
And there it was — the first clue.
They were planning for knowledge, not behaviour change.
They were planning an event, not a journey.
So I did what consultants sometimes have to do. I pushed back.
I suggested a longer, blended structure.
I offered coaching touchpoints.
I recommended 360-degree assessments to deepen self-awareness.
I proposed on-the-job stretch assignments tied to real business challenges.
The response?
“Hmm. That feels like overkill. Let’s keep it simple.”
And so they did.
A 5-week “leadership development programme” that was essentially a lecture series.
Well-designed, well-funded, but limited in outcome.
What organisations need to understand about leadership training
There is a crucial difference between leadership training and leadership development, and every organisation must be clear on it to make meaningful progress. Leadership training is designed to transfer knowledge and introduce skills, it is short-term, often classroom-based, and focuses on immediate learning outcomes like understanding concepts or frameworks. It is useful, but limited.
In contrast, leadership development goes deeper. It shapes mindsets, builds habits, and strengthens behavioural competencies. It is immersive, long-term, and blended. The goal isn’t just to inform, but to transform.
Here’s a simple breakdown:
When comparing leadership training and leadership development, several key distinctions emerge:
- Focus: Leadership training typically concentrates on building skills and imparting knowledge, while leadership development is geared towards cultivating capability and evolving mindset.
- Format: Training often takes place in classroom settings and is delivered in short-term bursts. Development, however, is more experiential, long-term, and blended—combining various learning methods over time.
- Depth: Training fosters surface-level awareness; development drives deep behavioural shifts that influence how leaders think and act.
- Outcome: The goal of leadership training is often to ensure participants know what to do. Leadership development, on the other hand, aims to shape individuals into people who can consistently execute and lead effectively.
- Sustainability: Training has low sustainability unless reinforced continuously. Development yields high sustainability, especially when integrated into an organisation’s culture and daily practices.
- Success Metrics: Training success is often measured by course completion. Development success is gauged by role readiness, succession potential, and strategic influence.
Leadership training can spark ideas, build confidence, and introduce valuable tools. But leadership development builds actual leaders, and this takes time, coaching, reflection, and real-world application.
That’s what this client missed.
Why It Matters: The Cost of Getting It Wrong
Let’s be clear: it’s not that their people didn’t benefit from the sessions. Many took away insights. Some even changed behaviours.
But six months later, they called us back confused.
“We ran this programme, spent a good amount of money, but we’re still not seeing leadership growth. People aren’t stepping up. Decision-making is still slow. We expected more…”
Of course they did.
But what they got was leadership training exposure, not developmental change.
They hadn’t built a pipeline.
They hadn’t coached mindset.
They hadn’t embedded accountability.
They gave information… and expected transformation.
This is a mistake I’ve seen too many times across organisations in Africa – large, small, public, private, family-owned, multinational.
They want a “quick hit.” A magic programme. A silver bullet.
But leaders aren’t trained. They’re developed.
The African Context: Why This Difference is Critical
Africa is facing a massive demographic and economic shift. Our businesses are growing faster than our leadership pipelines. Many organisations are led by founding generations who are nearing retirement, yet successors aren’t ready.
And we’re responding with… workshops?
What Africa needs is long-view leadership development.
Not one-off sessions.
Not imported templates.
But context-driven, business-integrated leadership journeys that build resilience, influence, emotional intelligence, and strategic acumen.
Because here’s what the high-performing African organisations are doing:
- They’re not just sending people to class.
They’re sending them into real projects with mentors, coaches, and feedback loops. - They’re not running leadership as an event.
They’re embedding it as a way of work. - They’re not focusing only on knowledge.
They’re building confidence, judgement, and courage. - They’re not asking, “What did they learn?”
They’re asking, “How are they leading differently now?”
That’s the shift.
What Real Leadership Development Looks Like
We recently completed a two-year leadership development engagement with a pan-African agri-processing business.
They had a clear mandate: build a leadership pipeline that could drive growth across 7 African countries.
Instead of launching a generic programme, we co-designed a multi-phase development journey:
- Leadership readiness assessments: to measure strengths, risks, and styles.
- Individual development plans: tailored to each participant’s real gaps.
- Action learning projects: tied to live business challenges.
- Executive coaching: to deepen self-awareness and decision-making.
- Mentorship tracks: with visibility across the C-suite.
- Leadership labs: for peer learning, reflection, and feedback.
Twelve months in, over 40% of participants had moved into expanded leadership roles.
Attrition dropped.
A new leadership culture emerged; curious, courageous, accountable.
That’s leadership development.
Not an event. A system. A philosophy. A way of building leaders that works and lasts.
The Takeaway: Ask Better Questions
Before you commission your next leadership initiative, ask:
- Do we want people to know more, or lead better?
- Are we designing for content or capability?
- Are we looking for short-term learning, or long-term behavioural growth?
- Are we investing in sessions; or in systems that build leaders?
- And finally… will this change how people show up and lead?
If your answer is “no” or “not sure,” you’re not doing leadership development.
You’re doing leadership training.
And that’s not bad, but don’t mistake it for something more.
Final Word: Africa Needs Leaders, Not Just Learners
The future of work in Africa won’t be defined by how many people attended courses.
It will be shaped by how many courageous, self-aware, resilient leaders we’ve built — across industries, sectors, and nations.
That won’t happen in a room with PowerPoint slides.
It will happen over time, through hard reflection, guided coaching, cross-functional exposure, and deliberate growth.
So don’t just train your leaders.
Develop them.
Because in the end, you don’t build organisations.
You build people and they build the organisation.
