What makes someone a great leader – a weekend seminar, a bestselling book, or something deeper?

I’m Brian O’Mahony, Global Head of Sales Operations at Keyloop, and I’ve spent a lot of time wrestling with that question. The truth is, leadership development is one of the most talked-about topics in business, but also one of the most misunderstood.

And here’s what I’ve learned: quick fixes don’t work. No crash course, no two-day workshop, no “magic formula” can transform someone into a leader overnight. Leadership is less about ticking boxes and more about transformation – of how we think, how we act, and how we see ourselves.

In this article, I want to share what leadership development really looks like, why it matters so much for sales enablement professionals, and how we can move beyond quick fixes to build leadership that lasts.

Let’s dive in.

Why leadership development matters for organizations

Let’s start with the obvious question: why bother with leadership development programs at all?

There are three big reasons:

  1. Retention of top talent – High performers want to grow. They want stretch goals, challenges, and opportunities to step up. If we don’t give them those opportunities, they’ll go somewhere else. Leadership development is one of the most effective ways to retain them.
  2. Diversity of leadership – Programs open the door for leaders from different backgrounds, genders, skill sets, and geographies. When you invest broadly, you widen the leadership pipeline.
  3. Strategic thinking – A strong development programthe equips organizations to cope with future challenges. It builds problem-solving capacity at all levels.

Here’s the mistake I see far too often: companies spend most of their development time on underperformers or “average” performers, hoping to bring them up to standard. But the high performers – the ones hungry for growth – often get left behind. 

That’s backwards. Those people want development, and they’re the ones who will create the most impact if we invest in them.

Now here’s where I ruffle some feathers: the training industry spends an obscene amount of money on leadership programs, but most of it misses the mark.

Why? Because most of it is just training.

You send people on a two-day course. Maybe a week-long seminar if you’re feeling generous. You dip them in, and expect them to come out transformed.

But leadership doesn’t work that way. You can’t read a book, tick a box, and suddenly be a leader. Development is slower, deeper, and harder than that. And it requires one thing that training often overlooks: the transformation of the self.

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