One in four people in the workforce has leadership responsibilities, yet most report receiving no related training for their roles, according to the Chartered Management Institute.

The institute's research shows that “accidental managers” (managers without formal training) make up 82% of managerial roles. While organizations believe in leadership development, additional studies show that these individuals aren’t getting the support they need. 

Management Doesn’t Equal Leadership 

A leading factor in the leadership training gap is the inability to distinguish between management and leadership. 

“Leadership is different from management in the same way plumbing is different from poetry,” said Dr. Michael Stevens, Brady distinguished professor of management and leadership at Weber State's college of business and economics.“It's not that plumbing is less important, but poetry is what captures the heart, mind, and engagement of people.” 

According to Forbes, the difference between management and leadership stems from one’s ability to keep an organization’s mission, vision, and values in mind when making day-to-day decisions. 

Further, Stevens says that this lack of definition leads to promotions based on technical competencies or tenure, which do not adequately prepare workers for future leadership roles. Organizations do this because technical competencies are easily measurable and clearly connected to the company's bottom line. 

However, leadership is beyond technical competencies. It requires an understanding of skills that aren’t as easily quantifiable. 

Leadership Metrics Aren’t Easily Measurable

“Leadership is about people,” said Dr. Jennifer Anderson, professor and chair of Weber State’s department of business administration and marketing. ”It gets complicated, messy, hard to define, and hard to measure.”

With the number of decisions organizations face each day, it makes sense to seek easily definable metrics based on measurable data. However, leadership isn’t your standard KPI. 

“We have this normative way of thinking that doesn't necessarily connect to an intentional development of leadership in people,” said Anderson. “Imagine if you had to evaluate your employees on things like communication skills, influencing ability, and developing a positive culture in their organization.”

The lines aren’t as clearly drawn, but data supports the idea that organizations that measure these durable skills improve their employees' personal satisfaction and company revenue.

Research by Zenger & Folkman shows that strong leadership in an organization can double profits. Additionally, strong leadership directly influences your organization's profitability, productivity, and retention, according to Gallup research.
 
Translating these potential profits into reality requires a shift in how companies approach leadership development.

Building Toward Stronger Leadership Training

“One of the most recent developments in thinking about leadership suggests that it is an ongoing social process,”  Anderson said. “We need to make sure that when we're developing people in terms of their leadership competencies, that their development is experiential.”

 True leadership development requires an ongoing commitment to the individual and collective success of workers. Leadership is not a static title but a shared momentum. By prioritizing experiential growth and collective accountability, organizations can build a culture where every individual is invested in the success of the whole.

Ultimately, modern workers demand both plumbing and poetry: the technical systems to get the job done, and the inspiration to make the job worth doing.