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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Ratgeber
- Sprache: Englisch
An insightful and inspirational team leadership guide packed with hands-on tools, resources, and visual aids you can use immediately
In The Voice-Driven Leader - How to Hear, Value, and Maximize Every Voice on Your Team, bestselling author, international speaker, and leadership consultant, Jeremie Kubicek, and Steve Cockram deliver a transformative guide to help you cultivate leadership at every level of your organization. It's a tactical, hands-on roadmap to turning teams into high-performing powerhouses, one team member at a time.
Kubicek and Cockram draw on decades of in-depth experience working with some of the world's most accomplished executives, leaders, and teams as they present their incisive 5 Voices framework. In The Voice-Driven Leader, you'll learn to understand your own strengths, adapt to your team's unique needs, and guide your people through a clear, four-stage development journey.
You'll find:
- Practical, step-by-step strategies you can apply immediately to increase your team's productivity and cohesion
- Intuitive walkthroughs of common, difficult leadership development problems—and solutions to frequently made leadership mistakes—that reliably solve challenges and overcome obstacles
- Actionable resources, including real-world examples and visual tools, that complement the book's voice-based approach
Perfect for managers, executives, HR leaders, and other business leaders, The Voice-Driven Leader is an invaluable and insightful framework for entrepreneurs, founders, team leaders, supervisors, and anyone else with an interest in helping the people they lead realize their potentials.
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Seitenzahl: 256
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025
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Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Introduction:
The Missing Playbook for Developing People
Let’s Face It: Developing People Is Hard
Leadership Is a Language—Are You Speaking Theirs?
The Development Square: Railroad Tracks for Leadership Growth
This Is Your Playbook, Not Just Another Theory
Who We Are and Why We Wrote This Book
How This Book Works
PART I: The Development Crisis
1 Why People Development Typically Fails
The Development Disconnect
Competing Pressures
The Cost of Stagnation
The Development Difference
Development Beyond the Workplace
What’s Next: Self-Reflection
Note
2 How Effective Are You in Developing Others?
The Voice-Driven Leader
Why Voice-Driven Leadership Matters
What’s Next? Understanding the Power of Voice-Based Leadership
3 Voice-Driven Leadership
A 5 Voices Summary
Learning Leadership Is Like Learning a Language
The 5 Voices: Five Distinct Languages of Learning
The Consequences of Forcing Your Own Language
Understanding Voice Demographics and Their Impact
Your Natural Voice and Its Impact on Your Coaching Style
A Real-World Voice Mismatch
Voice-Driven Leadership in Practice
How to Become a Voice-Driven Leader
Taking Action
Note
4 Committing to Lead
The Commitment Gap
The Three Dimensions of Leadership
The Power of Integrating All Three Dimensions
The Levels of Team Leadership: Who Develops You and Whom You Develop
Development Flows in Every Direction
Intentional Development in the World of Sports
What Business Can Learn from Sports
Why Leadership Commitment Matters
Where Are You Right Now?
What Committed Leaders Do Differently
PART II: The Development Journey
5 Understanding the Development Square
The Development Square: A Visual Framework
Why the Development Square Matters
The Four Stages of Development
The Psychology Behind Development
What Developing Others Looks Like in Real Life
What Parenting Teaches Us About Leadership Development
6 The Foundation Stage
Understanding the Foundation Stage
How People Learn Best at This Stage
What Can Go Wrong
What They Need from You as a Leader
When Are They Ready to Move On?
Voice-Specific Guidance
Recognizing the Needs of Each Voice
Strengths and Challenges for Leaders Leading in the Foundation Stage
Why Most Leaders Skip the Foundation Stage
Two Leaders, Two Outcomes
Setting the Stage for Growth
Practical Tips for Effective Onboarding
Leader’s Challenge: Build the Right Foundation
7 The Immersion Stage
The Critical Transition from Watching to Doing
Leading Like a 100X Leader
Why Some Leaders Struggle with This Stage
Where Leaders Struggle in the Immersion Stage
The Challenge of Conscious Incompetence
How Each Voice Handles Conscious Incompetence
Why This Stage Matters So Much
What Success Looks Like
Leader’s Reflection: How Well Are You Leading in the Immersion Stage?
Practical Steps for Leaders
Leader’s Challenge
Note
8 Avoiding the Pit of Despair
The Reality with Developing People
What the Pit of Despair Actually Is
Why People Get Stuck in the Pit
What the Pit Looks Like in Real Time
The Slide Toward the Pit of Despair
A Leader Who Didn’t See the Pit Coming
Recognizing Trigger Points into the Pit of Despair
How to Keep People Out of the Pit of Despair
Three Essential Elements to Helping People Avoid the Pit of Despair
Voice-Specific Frameworks for Avoiding the Pit of Despair
Quick Reference: Keeping Each Voice Out of the Pit
Notes
9 The Empowerment Stage
The Long, Hard Road to Competence
The Hardest Part of Leadership Development
Why Building Consistency Takes So Long
The Hidden Complexity of Leadership Development
The Slow and Steady Journey of Empowerment
The Development Square Journey
What Success Looks Like
The Cost of Avoiding Empowerment
The Ripple Effect on the Team
Why Some Leaders Struggle with Empowerment
How Each Leader Approaches Empowerment by Voice
Voice-Driven Empowerment: How Each Voice Navigates the Challenge of Releasing Control
No Voice Is Naturally Great at Every Stage
Empowerment Is the Heart of a Liberation Culture
Empowerment Versus Overpowering
Empowerment Isn’t Abdication
The Prize Must Be Worth the Price
Leader’s Challenge: Are You Ready to Let Go?
10 The Multiplication Stage
From Empowerment to Multiplication: What’s the Real Difference?
The Green Room: Where Growth Gets Comfortable
Why Some Leaders Struggle to Multiply
From Manager to Multiplier: The Story of a Vice President Who Finally Let Go
Multiplication Is the Ultimate Leadership Test
PART III: Building a Development System
11 How to Build a People Performance System
Leadership Development Isn’t an Event—It’s a System
The Problem Most Organizations Face
Voice-Driven Development: Key Components
Introducing the 5 Voices Performance System
The Core Elements of the System
A Roadmap to Systemic People Development
Implementation Plans by Organization Size
The Role of the 5 Voices AI
Diagnostic: The Performance Assessment
The Future of Leadership Is Systemic
The 5 Voices System Resources
Summary: Action Plan to Get Started
Conclusion:
Are You Becoming a Voice-Driven Leader?
Leadership Starts (and Grows) with Self-Awareness
What Do Your Numbers Reveal?
Your Final Challenge
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 2
Table 2.1 Voice-Driven Leadership Assessment
Chapter 3
Table 3.1 5 Voices Summary
Table 3.2 Quick Reference Guide for Voice-Based Coaching
Table 3.3 Common Language and Behavior of the Different Voices
Chapter 4
Table 4.1 Three Levels of Leadership Commitment
Chapter 5
Table 5.1 Summary of the Leadership Development Journey
Chapter 6
Table 6.1 Cheat Sheet: How Each Voice Learns in the Foundation Stag...
Table 6.2 Leaders’ Strengths and Challenges in the Foundation Stage...
Table 6.3 Tips for Effective Onboarding
Chapter 7
Table 7.1 Where Leaders Struggle in the Immersion Stage
Table 7.2 How Voices Handle Conscious Incompetence
Chapter 8
Table 8.1 How Incompetence Affects Each Voice
Table 8.2 How to Keep Each Voice out of the Pit of Despair
Table 8.3 Behavior by Voice
Chapter 9
Table 9.1 Development Square Journey
Table 9.2 Empowerment Troubleshooting Guide
Chapter 10
Table 10.1 The Distinction Between Empowerment and Multiplication...
Chapter 11
Table 11.1 Voice-Driven Component Chart
Conclusion
Table C.1 Voice-Driven Leadership Assessment
List of Illustrations
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1 Five Languages of Learning
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 Development Square
Figure 5.2 Voice-Driven Leader Map
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1 The Foundation Stage
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1 The Immersion Stage: Creating a Space for Safe Developm...
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1 Pit of Despair
Figure 8.2 Pit of Despair
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1 The Empowerment Stage
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1 The Multiplication Stage
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Introduction
Begin Reading
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Index
End User License Agreement
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The VOICE-DRIVEN LEADER
How to Hear, Value, and Maximize Every Voice on Your Team
Jeremie Kubicek & Steve Cockram
Copyright © 2026 by Better Holdings Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permission.
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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic formats. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
ISBN: 9781394150663 (cloth)ISBN: 9781394150670 (ePub)ISBN: 9781394150687 (ePDF)
Cover Design by Connelly RaderAuthor Photos: Courtesy of the Authors
This book is dedicated to every Voice-Driven leader in the world—those who are committed to developing others intentionally, every day. You are the true Liberators.
Thank you for living out the message and multiplying its impact in cities and sectors around the world.
IntroductionThe Missing Playbook for Developing People
“I had no idea I was killing their potential.”
The confession came from Michael, a seasoned executive whose team was underperforming despite his best efforts. He’d tried everything he knew: setting clear goals, providing regular feedback, even going on an overnight retreat. Nothing worked.
What Michael discovered next changed everything: His effort wasn’t wrong, but his style wasn’t effective; he was speaking the wrong language entirely.
Like many leaders, Michael had been developing everyone the way he preferred to be developed. His Pioneer Voice thrived on challenge and direct feedback, so that’s what he gave his team. But his Creative team members needed space to explore possibilities. His Guardians needed structure and clarity. His Nurturers needed appreciation before correction.
His style was keeping a lid on his people.
Once Michael learned to speak each team member’s development language, performance didn’t just improve; it transformed. Team retention went from 60% to 82% in one year. Innovation metrics doubled. And Michael finally built the team he’d always wanted.
This isn’t just Michael’s story. It’s a pattern we’ve witnessed across thousands of leaders in organizations worldwide.
Let’s Face It: Developing People Is Hard
You’re sprinting to meet deadlines. Your boss demands results yesterday. Clients grow impatient by the hour. And somehow, in the midst of this chaos, you’re expected to transform your team into high performers. No wonder most leaders’ default to “just getting the job done” rather than investing in genuine development.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: If you’re not developing your people, you’re placing a ceiling on your team’s potential—and on your own influence as a leader.
Most leaders don’t struggle with development because they don’t care. They struggle because they’re trapped in survival mode:
They’re consumed with keeping the machine running.
They lack a proven framework for actually growing people.
They unconsciously lead through their personal style, unaware of the needs of those they’re developing.
The consequences? Development becomes sporadic, reactive, or abandoned entirely. Teams stagnate. Top talent disengages. Potential withers on the vine—and leaders wonder why performance isn’t improving.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Leadership Is a Language—Are You Speaking Theirs?
Most leadership development fails for one simple reason: It assumes everyone grows the same way.
They don’t.
That’s why we created the 5 Voices framework. It decodes the unique Voice of each person on your team—and shows you how to speak their leadership language, not just your own.
Because here’s what most leaders miss:
If you’re a
Pioneer
, your bold vision and challenge energize some—but can silence others who process differently.
If you’re a
Connector
, your enthusiasm inspires action—but might skip the structure certain team members desperately need.
If you’re a
Guardian
, you offer consistency—but can overlook relational nuance or miss moments to encourage.
If you’re a
Creative
, your ideas spark possibility—but your team may struggle to translate your vision into practical steps.
If you’re a
Nurturer
, your supportive approach builds trust—yet you might avoid necessary confrontation when it’s needed most.
In short: Most leaders speak their native leadership language, expecting everyone to understand. But the best leaders—Voice-Driven leaders—adapt their approach to speak the language others can actually hear.
This approach follows the concept of the Platinum Rule—“Treat others as they want to be treated”—by Dr. Tony Alessandra and Dr. Michael J. O’Conneor.
Leadership isn’t about speaking louder; it’s about speaking the right language.
Voice-Driven leadership is what happens when leader adapt their development approach to match each person’s learning style, motivation, and maturity. It’s not about changing who you are; it’s about becoming fluent in the languages your team needs you to speak.
The Development Square: Railroad Tracks for Leadership Growth
Knowing someone’s Voice is just the first step. The next question is: Where are they in their development journey?
That question is why the Development Square exists. Think of it as railroad tracks for your leadership—a clear, sequential path that shows exactly where each person needs to go next.
Most leaders struggle because they’re trying to build the tracks while the train is moving. They have no map, no clear sequence for developing others. They jump from tactic to tactic, hoping something sticks.
The Development Square eliminates this guesswork. It shows you precisely how to move people from Unconscious Incompetence to Conscious Competence in their roles. It reveals when someone needs more Foundation before Immersion, more Empowerment before Multiplication.
When you combine the 5 Voices with the Development Square, something remarkable happens: You not only speak someone’s language, but you also know exactly where they need to go next. You can diagnose their current position and prescribe the right developmental approach.
It’s like having both a compass and a map for developing others. The 5 Voices tell you how to communicate effectively (the compass); the Development Square shows you the territory ahead and the sequence of growth (the map).
Together, they transform guesswork into a science—and turn good intentions into real, transformational results.
That’s the premise of this book.
This Is Your Playbook, Not Just Another Theory
This isn’t a book of abstract leadership advice. It’s a practical, field-tested guide.
You’ll master a clear system to:
Precisely diagnose where someone stands in their development journey.
Adapt your approach based on their Voice and current needs.
Navigate them through inevitable struggles, including the dreaded Pit of Despair.
Transform followers into owners—and, ultimately, into developers of others.
You’ll also learn to build a people-development ecosystem—where growth becomes your culture’s operating system, not just an aspirational value.
This book is about giving you our best so that you can be your best.
Who We Are and Why We Wrote This Book
After decades of leading companies, coaching CEOs, and training leaders across six continents—from Fortune 500 giants to nimble startups—and partnering with nearly 1,000 consultants and coaches along the way, we’ve witnessed the leadership development crisis up close. It’s not theoretical. It’s real.
As the founders of GiANT Worldwide, we’ve discovered a fundamental truth: As the team leader goes, so goes the team. When leaders improve both their performance and their leadership capacity and genuinely fight for the highest good of those they lead, team performance and productivity thrive.
Our life’s work centers on the “how” of leadership transformation—the applied leadership learning. We have dedicated our work to making the complicated, simple—to help leaders know what to do so they can become leaders worth following.
We’ve seen repeatedly that when leaders commit to knowing themselves deeply, understanding the Voice of those they lead, and speaking to others how they prefer rather than defaulting to their own style, everything changes, literally.
We wrote this book because we’re tired of watching talented people walk out the door due to poor leadership. We’re frustrated seeing well-intentioned leaders repeat the same ineffective development approaches, expecting different results. And we’re convinced that what the leadership world needs isn’t another theoretical framework; it needs a practical playbook that actually works.
Many of our readers and clients have asked for this level of detail. It’s one thing to hear us speak about these concepts, it’s another to have a field guide that you can methodically follow for yourselves. That is what this book does.
How This Book Works
This book unfolds in three parts:
Part I: The Development Crisis focuses on why development efforts so often fail—and how the 5 Voices and Development Square provide a better way forward. You will have an opportunity to go through a personal assessment and commit to the journey.
Part II: The Development Journey provides a detailed roadmap through the four stages of the Development Square—Foundation, Immersion, Empowerment, and Multiplication—plus guidance through the critical Pit of Despair and the Green Room.
Part III: Building a Development System explains how to scale your impact by creating an environment where development becomes systemic rather than sporadic.
This is a book for practitioners—leaders who need solutions, not just theories. Dog-ear it. Mark it up. Return to it often.
Whether you’re leading a company, managing a team, coaching clients, or raising a family, this playbook will transform how you develop the people in your care.
Because when you become a Voice-Driven leader, you stop managing tasks—and start multiplying potential.
Let’s get to work.
PART IThe Development Crisis
1Why People Development Typically Fails: And What Happens When It Works
I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.
Sophie shut her laptop with a force that made everyone in the open office look up. After three years as a rising star at the marketing agency, she had just emailed her resignation letter.
Her team leader, James, was blindsided. In his mind, Sophie was on track for promotion. She managed the biggest client accounts. She delivered quality work consistently. What could have possibly gone wrong?
Later that afternoon, over coffee at a nearby café, Sophie explained:
“I’ve been doing the exact same work for three years, James. When I ask about development opportunities, you say ‘Maybe next quarter when things slow down.’ When I propose new ideas, you tell me to ‘stick with what works.’ I’ve watched you hire three outside experts rather than develop anyone on our team. I’m not leaving for more money—I’m leaving because I stopped growing here a long time ago.”James drove home that evening with Sophie’s words echoing in his mind. He had always prided himself on being a good leader. He praised his team. He gave them autonomy. He protected them from office politics.
But he had confused management with development. And it had just cost him his best employee.
This scenario plays out in organizations every day.
If leaders truly knew how to develop others, would we still see such high levels of burnout, disengagement, and purposelessness in today’s workplaces?
Would talented employees constantly feel undervalued and stuck in their roles?
Nearly every leader claims people development is important, but few make it a consistent daily priority. Why? Because without a clear, sustainable system, development is difficult to maintain day after day.
The good news: When leaders genuinely commit to development, transformation occurs:
People don’t just complete tasks; they think strategically.
Teams don’t just exist; they become influential multipliers.
Organizations don’t just hit targets; they create thriving cultures.
The Development Disconnect
Most development efforts don’t fail because leaders don’t care; they fail because everything else seems more urgent:
Client demands
Financial targets
Daily operational fires
In this constant rush, people development feels like a luxury—something we’ll address “when there’s time.”
Developing people doesn’t fail from lack of care; it fails when everything else crowds it out.
But here’s the reality: Every meeting, every conversation, every decision is either intentionally growing your people’s capability or accidentally reinforcing limitations. Are you multiplying potential or merely managing tasks? Leadership development isn’t an event; it’s embedded in the very fabric of how you lead. What are your daily actions actually developing in those around you?
Without intentionality, stagnation takes root, and a team brimming with potential quietly underperforms.
Competing Pressures
Most leaders juggle three competing pressures in their daily work:
Clients/customers demanding immediate results
Their boss expecting strong performance metrics
Team members needing help, clarity, and development
Guess which one consistently gets neglected? You guessed it.
When development is ignored long enough:
Turnover increases.
Morale deteriorates.
Decision making stalls.
Top performers disengage.
You might not notice the pattern at first, but the evidence becomes undeniable—you’re still shouldering burdens that your team should be carrying. Every day without intentional development creates a double cost: your increasing exhaustion and your team’s growing disengagement. The longer you delay building a development system, the heavier both burdens become.
Alex’s calendar alert chimed at 6:45 pm: “Call Emma re: quarterly plan.”
He sighed, realizing he’d have to reschedule—again—the training conversation with his newest team member. It would be the third time this month.
His day had been consumed by an urgent client escalation, followed by his boss requesting additional data for tomorrow’s executive meeting. By the time he’d handled both, Emma’s scheduled slot was long gone.
“She’ll understand,” he thought, typing a quick apology email: “Sorry, I am going to need to push back our session. I need to finish the client presentation and my boss needs an updated report for the executive meeting tomorrow.”
Six months later, Alex sat stunned across from HR, reviewing the exit interview results from four departing team members—including Emma.
The feedback pattern was unmistakable: “Great company, but I wasn’t growing.” “I needed more coaching, but my manager was always putting out fires.” “I wanted to develop and help, but that conversation kept getting postponed.”
What Alex hadn’t realized was how each postponed development conversation sent a message: You’re not a priority. The client matters more. The boss matters more. But your growth? That can wait.
Now Alex faced a painful reality: Handling client demands and executive requests had seemed urgent in the moment, but neglecting development had created a far bigger crisis—a talent exodus that no amount of firefighting could fix and a heavier workload on himself, that wasn’t sustainable.
The Cost of Stagnation
People can be an asset if you treat them as such. Unfortunately, most leaders view them as liabilities to manage more than assets to invest in.
Many organizations slip into survival mode, focusing entirely on execution under pressure to meet short-term targets and miss the benefits of employees being assets.
Development starts feeling like a luxury—something for when things calm down.
But that calm never arrives.
Instead, long-term consequences silently accumulate:
Growth stalls—for individuals and organizations.
Innovation fades as disengaged teams do the minimum.
Morale, retention, and energy decline.
Leaders spend more time fighting fires than preventing them.
Work gets done—but at mounting, hidden costs.
82% of managers are considered “accidental leaders”—promoted for performance, not people development skills.
—CEB (now Gartner), Leadership Development Factbook
70% of employees say they haven’t mastered the skills they need for their jobs.
—McKinsey, Building Workforce Skills at Scale
Rather than building self-sustaining teams, leaders become linchpins required for every decision.
When everything depends on them, everything slows without them.
This pattern is especially common in performance-driven cultures where development seems too slow, too soft, too difficult to measure.
The irony: Skipping development doesn’t save time; it guarantees greater pressure later.
Developing people isn’t a distraction from results. It’s how you achieve results that last.
The Development Difference
Let’s explore what happens when people development actually works.
People development isn’t magic or exclusive to elite organizations. It’s a system built on consistent, intentional leadership where:
Managers provide high support alongside high challenge.
Leaders understand their own tendencies and the Voices of those they lead.
People align not just on what they do but on why it matters.
The outcomes are transformative:
Trust strengthens.
Collaboration deepens.
Ownership expands.
Development becomes the primary reason people stay.
When Kristen took over the struggling regional sales team, she inherited a group with high turnover, missed targets, and toxic competition.
“The previous leader was brilliant but intimidating,” one team member explained. “We were afraid to ask questions or admit we didn’t know something.”
Instead of focusing solely on the numbers, Kristen started with development. She began with Voice assessments, helping each team member understand their natural communication style and strengths. She established weekly coaching conversations—brief but consistent—structured around both performance and growth.
When challenges arose, she asked questions before giving answers. When team members struggled, she paired high challenge with equally high support.
Six months later, the transformation was evident. Not only had sales increased by 24%, but the team dynamic had fundamentally shifted:
“I used to dread team meetings,” said Marcus, a veteran sales rep. “Now I look forward to them. We actually collaborate instead of competing.”
“For the first time in my career, I feel like someone’s investing in who I am, not just what I produce,” added Taylor, a newer team member.
When a competitor tried to recruit away two top performers with significant salary increases, both declined. Their reason? “I’m growing here. The development I’m getting is worth more than a bigger paycheck somewhere else.”
The development difference isn’t just measurable in performance; it’s evident in retention, innovation, and cultural health.
Leading Development in Results-Driven Cultures
“My boss thinks leadership development is a luxury we can’t afford right now.”
Sound familiar? Many leaders want to invest in their people but face resistance from senior leadership who see development as a distraction from immediate results.
Here’s the paradox: Leaders who prioritize development don’t achieve results despite their focus on people; they achieve better results because of it.
This isn’t wishful thinking; it’s strategy backed by hard evidence. For example, Gallup research shows teams with highly engaged members—a direct outcome of intentional development—are 18% more productive and 22% more profitable.1
Organizations like Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce don’t invest billions in people development because it feels good. They do it because doing so drives measurable outcomes: innovation speed, customer retention, and adaptability in volatile markets.
The real question isn’t “Should we invest in development?” It’s “Can we afford not to?”
Not every leader values development. Some actively resist it due to short-term pressure, to protect their egos, or because of previous failed initiatives.
