"You Don't Have Time for Training" (And Why That's Actually True)
I recently had a conversation with a potential client.
Their organization was growing rapidly. They knew if they wanted to sustain that growth, they needed to develop their leaders.
But here's what caught my attention. When they reached out, they said:
"We need help establishing lasting change in our organization. We've tried other ways of training. Online videos, modules, workshops. Nothing has worked. And it's costing us."
We had incredible synergy in that moment.
Because they weren't pursuing training. They were pursuing transformation.
And that's the difference between organizations that waste money on development and organizations that see real change.
The Problem with Training
Here's what I say at the start of every single engagement:
"You don't have time for training."
I can see it in the room. Arms crossed. Eyes darting to phones. Mental to-do lists piling up.
You're thinking about the emails stacking up. The questions going unanswered. The fires that will be raging by the time you get back to your desk.
You don't have time for this.
And yet you're here.
Why?
Because strategically, if you grow and develop as a leader, it will have such a dramatic ripple effect on your organization that this time away from work will pale in comparison to the impact you make over the long term.
But here's the catch: That's only true if your development is directly connected to your organization's strategy.
If it's not? You're wasting time. Money. Energy. Resources you don't have lying around.
Training Disconnected from Strategy Is a Waste
Most organizations treat training like a nice to have.
They reach a certain size and think, "Well, we're big enough now. We should probably do some leadership training."
So, they send people to workshops. Buy access to online modules. Bring in someone to run a session.
And nothing changes.
Not because the content was bad. Not because the facilitator wasn't good.
Because there was no strategic urgency behind it.
Training without urgency isn't taken seriously. And training that isn't taken seriously has minimal impact.
You don't have extra resources lying around just to do some fun learning.
What you do have is a burning desire as an organization to accomplish something important. To make a specific kind of impact. To solve a particular challenge.
That's where development should start.
Not with "We should get some training."
With "What are our strategic priorities? And how do we need our leaders to change this year to make this happen?"
The Test
Take a minute and think back over the past year or two.
What leadership training or development did your organization invest in?
Now ask yourself:
Was it connected to a strategic initiative that had urgency and importance?
Or was it something you set aside as a separate thing? Something you do because you're supposed to? Because you're big enough now that you "should" have training?
If there wasn't a direct line from your training initiatives to your strategic priorities, you missed out.
And you likely wasted money, time, and energy in the process.
What Connected Training Looks Like
Let me show you what it looks like when training is actually connected to strategy.
Let's say your strategic priority this year is to reduce turnover by 25%.
That's not just an HR problem. That's a leadership problem.
Your leaders need to change how they're showing up. Specifically:
They need to delegate in ways that develop people, not just offload tasks
They need to offer feedback that helps people grow, not just correct mistakes
They need to connect daily work to meaningful impact
Now your training has purpose. Now it has urgency.
You're not developing leaders because you "should." You're developing them because if they don't change, you won't hit your strategic goal.
That's when training becomes transformation.
The Framework Shift
Stop starting with training.
Start with strategy.
Ask yourself:
What are our top 3 strategic priorities this year?
What specific leadership behaviors would help us accomplish those priorities?
What's the gap between how our leaders show up today and how they need to show up?
How do we systematically close that gap?
That's when development stops being a cost center and starts being an investment.
That's when your leaders stop seeing it as time away from work and start seeing it as the work itself.
That's when training becomes transformation.
Your Strategic Assessment
Look at your strategic priorities for this year.
Now honestly ask yourself: Are we developing our leaders in ways that directly support those priorities?
If the answer is no, you're leaving the biggest opportunities on the table.
You've built the foundation. Now it's time to build the house.
Ready to Connect Development to Strategy?
Not sure how to connect your leadership development to your strategic priorities? Contact me to discuss how we can map your priorities, identify the leadership gaps, and determine whether your team would benefit from strategically focused development that drives real transformation.