Articles / Leadership Development vs Training: Understanding the Difference
Development, Training & CoachingExplore the difference between leadership development vs training. Learn why comprehensive development outperforms training alone and how to combine approaches effectively.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Mon 17th November 2025
Leadership development encompasses comprehensive, long-term capability building through multiple interventions, whilst training refers to specific skill-building events or programmes. Research from the Center for Creative Leadership indicates that training accounts for only 10% of leadership learning, with 70% coming from experience and 20% from developmental relationships. Understanding the distinction between leadership development vs training enables organisations to create effective strategies that go beyond classroom learning to build genuine leadership capability.
This guide explores the differences between these approaches and explains how to integrate them effectively.
Leadership training refers to structured learning events designed to build specific leadership skills or knowledge. Training typically involves defined curricula, expert instruction, and measured learning outcomes.
Characteristics of leadership training:
Event-based: Training occurs in discrete events—workshops, courses, seminars. Learning happens within defined timeframes.
Skill-focused: Training targets specific capabilities—communication, delegation, feedback, presentation skills.
Instructor-led: Expert facilitators deliver content and guide learning activities.
Curriculum-driven: Training follows predetermined content designed to achieve specific learning objectives.
Standardised: Training content is typically consistent across participants, ensuring common learning.
Measurable: Training outcomes can be assessed through tests, demonstrations, or evaluations.
Common training formats:
Leadership development refers to a comprehensive, ongoing process of building leadership capability through multiple interventions over time. Development encompasses training but extends far beyond it.
Characteristics of leadership development:
Process-oriented: Development unfolds over time through cumulative experiences and learning.
Holistic focus: Development addresses the whole leader—skills, behaviours, mindset, identity.
Multi-modal: Development integrates various approaches—training, experience, coaching, feedback, reflection.
Individualised: Development adapts to each leader's needs, goals, and learning preferences.
Context-embedded: Development connects to actual work challenges and organisational needs.
Continuous: Development is ongoing rather than event-based. Learning never truly completes.
Development components:
| Dimension | Leadership Training | Leadership Development |
|---|---|---|
| Timeframe | Discrete events | Ongoing process |
| Scope | Specific skills | Holistic capability |
| Approach | Instructor-led | Multi-modal |
| Customisation | Standardised content | Individualised paths |
| Context | Often removed from work | Embedded in work |
| Focus | Knowledge and skills | Behaviour and mindset |
| Delivery | Formal programmes | Multiple interventions |
| Measurement | Learning outcomes | Performance impact |
The 70-20-10 model, developed from research at the Center for Creative Leadership, describes how leaders actually learn and develop. The framework suggests that leadership learning comes from three sources in approximate proportions:
70% - Challenging experiences: Most leadership learning comes from on-the-job challenges, stretch assignments, and experiential learning. Facing real challenges with real consequences drives the deepest development.
20% - Developmental relationships: Significant learning comes from others—mentors, coaches, peers, and feedback providers. Relationships provide perspective, support, and accountability.
10% - Formal training: Training and coursework contribute importantly but represent only a fraction of total leadership learning.
Implications for practice:
| Learning Source | Contribution | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Experience (70%) | Primary driver | Stretch assignments, projects, transitions |
| Relationships (20%) | Catalyst and support | Coaching, mentoring, feedback |
| Training (10%) | Foundation and frameworks | Courses, workshops, certifications |
The 70-20-10 framework challenges over-reliance on training:
Training alone is insufficient: If training contributes only 10% of learning, training-only approaches leave 90% of development opportunity untapped.
Experiences must be leveraged: Organisations should deliberately create developmental experiences, not leave them to chance.
Relationships require investment: Coaching, mentoring, and feedback systems multiply development impact.
Integration is essential: Effective development integrates all three sources, using training to prepare leaders for experiences and relationships to support learning from them.
Training, despite its value, has inherent limitations:
Transfer challenge: Learning in classrooms often fails to transfer to workplace application. Studies suggest only 10-20% of training transfers to on-the-job behaviour.
Context gap: Training environments differ significantly from actual work contexts. Skills learned abstractly may not translate to specific situations.
Behaviour change difficulty: Training builds knowledge and awareness but rarely changes ingrained behavioural patterns.
Sustainability issues: Learning from training events fades without reinforcement. The "forgetting curve" erodes retention rapidly.
Mindset limitations: Training addresses skills more effectively than mindsets. Deep leadership development requires identity-level change.
One-size limitations: Standardised training cannot address individual development needs fully.
Research reveals sobering findings about training-only approaches:
Transfer rates:
Behaviour change:
ROI challenges:
Effective leadership development integrates multiple elements:
1. Assessment and awareness: Development begins with understanding current capabilities, gaps, and development priorities. 360-degree feedback, psychometric assessments, and performance data inform development planning.
2. Formal learning: Training provides frameworks, concepts, and initial skill building. But training works best as preparation for experience rather than standalone solution.
3. Developmental experiences: Stretch assignments, challenging projects, and role transitions drive the deepest learning. Experiences should be deliberately developmental, not merely assigned work.
4. Coaching and mentoring: Developmental relationships provide support, perspective, and accountability. Coaches and mentors help leaders extract learning from experiences.
5. Feedback loops: Regular feedback from multiple sources enables ongoing adjustment and improvement. Feedback makes development responsive to actual impact.
6. Reflection practices: Learning from experience requires reflection. Structured reflection practices extract insights and consolidate learning.
7. Application opportunities: Development must connect to real work. Application opportunities test and reinforce learning.
Designing comprehensive development:
Step 1: Assess needs Identify development priorities through assessment, feedback, and performance analysis.
Step 2: Create development plans Build individualised plans addressing priority areas through multiple modalities.
Step 3: Provide foundational training Use training to build knowledge and awareness preparing leaders for developmental experiences.
Step 4: Create developmental experiences Design stretch assignments and challenging projects that accelerate learning.
Step 5: Provide relationship support Assign coaches or mentors supporting leaders through development.
Step 6: Build feedback systems Create mechanisms for ongoing feedback informing development.
Step 7: Enable reflection Structure time and practices for processing experience and extracting learning.
Step 8: Reinforce and sustain Build reinforcement mechanisms preventing development gains from fading.
Research identifies experience categories that accelerate leadership development:
Challenging assignments:
Boundary-crossing experiences:
Hardship experiences:
Other developmental experiences:
Experiences develop leaders through specific mechanisms:
Stretching capability: Experiences beyond current ability force growth. Comfort zone expansion builds new capabilities.
Generating feedback: Real challenges produce clear feedback about effectiveness. Consequences reveal what works and what doesn't.
Building resilience: Navigating difficulties builds capacity to handle future challenges.
Shaping identity: Significant experiences shape how leaders see themselves. Identity-level change enables sustainable development.
Creating perspective: Diverse experiences broaden perspective. Multiple viewpoints enhance judgment.
| Experience Type | Development Benefit | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Stretch assignment | Capability expansion | Leading larger team |
| Turnaround | Problem-solving, resilience | Rescuing failing project |
| Cross-functional | Perspective, networks | Rotation to different function |
| Hardship | Resilience, self-awareness | Recovering from failure |
| Start-up | Entrepreneurship, resourcefulness | Launching new initiative |
Training serves development best when positioned appropriately:
Preparation function: Training prepares leaders for developmental experiences by building awareness, frameworks, and initial skills.
Foundation building: Training establishes common language, shared models, and baseline capabilities.
Just-in-time support: Training addresses specific needs as they emerge in developmental experiences.
Reflection catalyst: Training can prompt reflection on experience, helping leaders extract learning.
Network building: Training cohorts create peer networks supporting ongoing development.
Training effectiveness increases when:
Connected to experience: Training that prepares for or processes specific experiences transfers better than abstract training.
Followed by application: Immediate application opportunities reinforce training learning.
Supported by coaching: Coaching helps leaders apply training concepts to their specific situations.
Reinforced over time: Spaced reinforcement prevents training gains from fading.
Integrated with feedback: Feedback on training application guides continued improvement.
Embedded in development: Training as part of comprehensive development produces better outcomes than standalone training.
Training and development require different measurement approaches:
Training measurement:
Development measurement:
Key metrics for development effectiveness:
| Metric Category | Training Metrics | Development Metrics |
|---|---|---|
| Reaction | Satisfaction scores | Engagement with development |
| Learning | Knowledge tests | Capability assessments |
| Behaviour | Skill demonstrations | 360-degree feedback changes |
| Results | Course completion | Performance, promotion, retention |
| Impact | Difficult to establish | Business outcome improvement |
Development metrics emphasise:
Creating effective development strategy:
1. Align with business strategy: Development priorities should connect to organisational strategy and future leadership requirements.
2. Assess current state: Evaluate existing leadership capability against future needs. Identify gaps requiring development.
3. Define development architecture: Design the framework integrating training, experience, relationships, and support systems.
4. Build programme elements: Create or acquire specific programmes, experiences, and support mechanisms.
5. Develop internal capability: Build internal capacity to deliver and sustain development over time.
6. Implement systematically: Roll out development approaches with appropriate sequencing and support.
7. Measure and adjust: Track outcomes and continuously improve development approaches.
Avoid these development strategy mistakes:
Over-relying on training: Don't equate sending people to training with developing them.
Neglecting experience: Failing to create deliberately developmental experiences wastes the primary learning source.
Underinvesting in relationships: Coaching and mentoring significantly multiply development impact.
Ignoring transfer: Development must connect to actual work application.
Treating development as event: Development is ongoing process, not periodic event.
Failing to measure impact: Without measurement, development effectiveness remains unknown.
Leadership development is a comprehensive, ongoing process building leadership capability through multiple interventions—training, experience, coaching, feedback, and reflection. Leadership training refers to specific skill-building events like workshops or courses. Training is one component of development; development encompasses training plus experiential learning, relationships, and ongoing growth over time.
Training alone is insufficient because research shows training contributes only about 10% of leadership learning. Most development (70%) comes from challenging experiences, with 20% from developmental relationships. Additionally, training transfer rates are low—only 10-20% of training learning transfers to workplace behaviour without additional reinforcement and support.
The 70-20-10 model describes how leaders actually learn: 70% from challenging experiences and assignments, 20% from developmental relationships like coaching and mentoring, and 10% from formal training and coursework. This framework emphasises that development should integrate experiential learning and relationship support, not rely solely on training programmes.
Improve training transfer by: connecting training to specific work challenges, providing immediate application opportunities, assigning coaches to support application, spacing reinforcement over time, building feedback mechanisms, integrating training with broader development experiences, and creating accountability for applying learning. Transfer requires deliberate design, not just hope.
Experiences that develop leaders most effectively include: challenging stretch assignments beyond current capability, turnaround and start-up situations, cross-functional and geographic moves, high-stakes projects, hardship experiences requiring resilience, leading diverse teams, managing without authority, and representing the organisation externally. Developmental experiences share common elements of challenge, novelty, and meaningful consequences.
Measure development effectiveness through: 360-degree feedback changes over time, performance improvement in current roles, promotion and advancement rates, retention of developed leaders, leadership pipeline strength, and business outcome improvements. Unlike training, which measures learning immediately after events, development measurement tracks sustained capability and performance change over time.
Organisations should invest in integrated development that includes training as one component. Given the 70-20-10 framework, investment should flow to creating developmental experiences, building coaching and mentoring capacity, and establishing feedback systems—not just training programmes. Training remains important but should be positioned as preparation and support for experiential development.
The distinction between leadership development and training matters profoundly for organisational effectiveness. Training builds specific skills through structured events; development builds comprehensive capability through integrated approaches over time. Training contributes importantly but represents only 10% of how leaders actually learn.
Effective development integrates training with challenging experiences (70% of learning) and developmental relationships (20% of learning). It creates deliberate stretch assignments, provides coaching and mentoring, builds feedback systems, and enables reflection. Training prepares leaders for experiences and helps them extract learning from those experiences.
Like the difference between attending a navigation course and actually sailing from Southampton to Sydney, training provides the maps whilst development provides the voyage. Both matter, but the voyage is where real capability develops.
Build comprehensive development strategies. Use training appropriately but don't over-rely on it. Create developmental experiences deliberately. Invest in coaching and mentoring. Develop leaders through the full range of how learning actually occurs.