Articles / What Leadership Development Is: Complete Definition Guide
Development, Training & CoachingLearn what leadership development is. Discover how it differs from training, what it involves, and why organisations invest in developing leaders systematically.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Thu 9th October 2025
Leadership development is the intentional process of expanding an individual's capacity to be effective in leadership roles and processes. It encompasses all activities—formal and informal—that enhance a person's ability to lead: to influence others, set direction, build teams, and navigate the complex challenges organisations face. Research from the Center for Creative Leadership indicates that whilst 70% of leadership development occurs through on-the-job experience, formal development programmes and developmental relationships accelerate and deepen what experience alone provides.
Understanding what leadership development is—and isn't—enables more strategic investment in approaches that genuinely build capability rather than merely consuming time and resources.
Leadership development is the systematic enhancement of leadership knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours to increase individual and organisational effectiveness. It differs from merely acquiring knowledge about leadership by focusing on practical capability that produces results.
Core elements of leadership development include:
Knowledge building: Understanding leadership concepts, theories, and frameworks. Knowledge provides mental models for interpreting situations.
Skill development: Building practical capabilities—communication, delegation, coaching, conflict resolution. Skills enable action.
Attitude shaping: Developing mindsets and perspectives that support effective leadership. Attitudes influence how knowledge and skills are applied.
Behaviour change: Translating learning into consistent action patterns. Behaviour change represents the ultimate measure of development.
Self-awareness enhancement: Deepening understanding of personal patterns, strengths, and limitations. Self-awareness enables intentional growth.
Leadership development and training overlap but differ:
Training:
Development:
Training asks: "Can they perform this task?" Development asks: "Who are they becoming as leaders?"
Effective leadership development often includes training elements, but extends beyond skill acquisition to fundamental capability building.
| Dimension | Training | Development |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Specific skills | Broad capability |
| Timeframe | Short-term | Long-term |
| Approach | Event-based | Process-based |
| Driver | Instructor | Learner |
| Goal | Performance | Transformation |
| Scope | Task competence | Leadership capacity |
Comprehensive leadership development encompasses:
Formal programmes: Structured courses, workshops, and educational experiences. Formal programmes provide concentrated learning.
Experiential learning: On-the-job challenges, stretch assignments, and developmental experiences. Experience provides the primary classroom for leadership.
Coaching and mentoring: One-to-one relationships supporting individual development. Coaching personalises development to individual contexts.
Self-directed learning: Reading, reflection, self-assessment, and personal study. Self-direction sustains development beyond formal interventions.
Feedback processes: 360-degree assessments, performance feedback, and ongoing input. Feedback illuminates blind spots.
Peer learning: Cohort experiences, action learning sets, and peer coaching. Peers provide support and collective wisdom.
Networking: Relationship building with diverse professionals. Networks expand perspective and opportunity.
Research identifies developmental experiences:
1. Challenging assignments: New responsibilities requiring capability beyond current level. Challenge forces growth.
2. Hardship experiences: Setbacks, failures, and difficulties requiring resilience. Adversity develops character.
3. Developmental relationships: Mentors, coaches, and role models providing guidance. Relationships accelerate development.
4. Coursework and training: Formal education and skill building. Programmes provide frameworks and concentrated learning.
5. Personal experiences: Life events, family responsibilities, and personal challenges. Life develops leadership alongside work.
The most effective development combines multiple experience types—formal learning contextualised through challenging assignments with support from developmental relationships.
Organisations invest because:
Performance improvement: Developed leaders produce better results. Leadership quality directly affects organisational performance.
Succession strength: Development builds bench strength for future needs. Leadership pipelines ensure continuity.
Retention enhancement: Development investment increases loyalty and retention. Leaders stay where they grow.
Culture building: Leadership development shapes organisational culture. How leaders are developed influences how they lead.
Adaptation capacity: Developed leaders navigate change more effectively. Development builds adaptability.
Competitive advantage: Superior leadership capabilities differentiate organisations. Leadership serves as sustainable competitive advantage.
Research indicates returns including:
Individual returns: Enhanced capability, career advancement, increased confidence, expanded networks, greater satisfaction.
Team returns: Improved performance, better engagement, reduced turnover, stronger collaboration, enhanced innovation.
Organisational returns: Better results, stronger succession, improved culture, increased adaptability, competitive differentiation.
Return on investment varies by programme quality, participant engagement, and organisational support. Development works when it changes behaviour; it fails when it remains theoretical.
| Benefit Level | Examples | Typical Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Skills, confidence, networks | Career advancement |
| Team | Performance, engagement | Productivity improvement |
| Organisation | Results, culture, succession | Competitive advantage |
Effective development combines elements:
1. Clear development objectives: Specific goals guiding development efforts. Clarity enables focus.
2. Relevant content: Material addressing actual development needs. Relevance motivates engagement.
3. Multiple modalities: Varied approaches addressing different learning preferences. Variety reinforces learning.
4. Experiential emphasis: Learning through doing, not just hearing. Experience embeds capability.
5. Application support: Help translating learning to practice. Application transforms knowledge into capability.
6. Feedback provision: Ongoing input on development progress. Feedback guides continued growth.
7. Sustained engagement: Development over time, not one-off events. Sustained effort produces lasting change.
Development typically progresses through stages:
Awareness: Recognising development needs and opportunities. Awareness precedes action.
Learning: Acquiring new knowledge, perspectives, and frameworks. Learning provides foundation.
Practice: Applying learning in real situations. Practice builds capability.
Integration: Embedding new approaches into consistent patterns. Integration produces lasting change.
Mastery: Achieving capability that feels natural and automatic. Mastery represents development success.
Teaching: Sharing learning with others. Teaching deepens understanding whilst spreading development.
Development serves various groups:
Emerging leaders: Those preparing for initial leadership responsibilities. Early development prevents costly learning through failure.
New leaders: Those recently assuming leadership roles. Transition support accelerates effectiveness.
Experienced leaders facing new challenges: Those encountering unfamiliar situations. Development addresses new capability requirements.
High potentials: Those identified for accelerated advancement. Investment in future senior leaders.
Senior leaders: Those at organisational apex. Continued development maintains effectiveness.
Individual contributors with influence: Those without formal authority but significant influence. Leadership extends beyond formal roles.
Priority factors include:
Readiness: Openness to development and capacity to engage. Readiness affects return on investment.
Potential: Likelihood of benefit from development investment. Potential varies across individuals.
Need: Gap between current capability and role requirements. Need indicates development urgency.
Impact: Significance of the person's role to organisational success. Impact justifies investment level.
Timing: Appropriateness of development given career stage and circumstances. Timing affects receptivity.
Common approaches include:
Formal education: Degree programmes, executive education, professional qualifications. Education provides broad foundation.
Skills training: Workshops addressing specific capabilities. Training builds targeted skills.
Coaching: One-to-one developmental relationships with professional coaches. Coaching personalises development.
Mentoring: Relationships with experienced leaders providing guidance. Mentoring offers wisdom and support.
Action learning: Working on real challenges whilst learning. Action learning combines development with contribution.
Assessment and feedback: 360-degree feedback, personality assessments, skill evaluations. Assessment illuminates development needs.
Stretch assignments: Challenging responsibilities requiring capability growth. Assignments provide experiential development.
Job rotation: Movement across roles building breadth. Rotation expands perspective.
Effective development blends approaches:
70-20-10 framework: Approximately 70% from experience, 20% from relationships, 10% from formal learning. The framework guides investment allocation.
Blended learning: Combining formal programmes with experiential application. Blending reinforces learning.
Learning journey design: Sequenced development over time rather than one-off events. Journeys sustain growth.
Ecosystem approach: Multiple interconnected development elements. Ecosystems provide comprehensive support.
Leadership development is the process of building someone's ability to lead effectively. It includes all activities—training, coaching, challenging experiences, and self-directed learning—that enhance leadership capability. Development goes beyond knowledge to build practical skills, shape attitudes, and change behaviours that produce leadership results.
Leadership training focuses on specific skills with short-term, event-based approaches. Leadership development builds broader capability through long-term, process-based approaches. Training asks whether someone can perform tasks; development asks who someone is becoming as a leader. Effective development often includes training, but extends beyond to fundamental capability building.
Leadership development is important because: leadership quality directly affects organisational performance; developed leaders produce better results; development builds succession strength; investment increases retention; and development shapes culture. Organisations with strong leadership development capabilities outperform those without systematic approaches to building leadership.
The four primary stages of leadership development are: awareness (recognising development needs), learning (acquiring new knowledge and frameworks), practice (applying learning in real situations), and integration (embedding new approaches into consistent patterns). Some frameworks add mastery (achieving natural, automatic capability) and teaching (sharing learning with others).
Leadership development is ongoing rather than completed. Initial capability building may take months to years depending on starting point and goals. Significant behaviour change typically requires six to twelve months minimum. True mastery develops over years of deliberate practice. The most effective leaders maintain development throughout their careers.
The purpose of a leadership development programme is to systematically build leadership capability that improves individual and organisational effectiveness. Programmes accelerate development beyond unguided experience by providing structured learning, practice opportunities, feedback, and support. Effective programmes produce behaviour change, not just knowledge acquisition.
Most people can develop leadership skills—contemporary research strongly supports leadership as learnable rather than purely inborn. Development potential varies, but capability improvement is possible for most individuals through deliberate effort. The view that leaders are only "born" has been thoroughly refuted. Development success depends more on commitment and effort than on natural talent.
Leadership development is the intentional process of building capacity to lead effectively—encompassing knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours that produce results. It differs from mere training by emphasising long-term capability building rather than short-term skill acquisition.
Effective development combines multiple approaches: formal learning, challenging experiences, developmental relationships, and self-directed growth. The process continues throughout careers; the best leaders never stop developing.
Investment in leadership development returns value through improved performance, stronger succession, enhanced retention, and sustained competitive advantage. The organisations that develop leaders systematically outperform those that leave development to chance.
Develop intentionally. Learn continuously. Lead effectively.