Authored by: Amber CY Tsai, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Tasmania, Toby Newstead, PhD, Leadership Scholar and Executive Leadership Coach, and Joseph Crawford, PhD, Organisational Behaviour Scholar.
What stands between us and more effective leadership development?
From the research-practice gap to emerging challenges like climate change and leader burnout, traditional approaches to leadership development are being tested like never before. Here, we dive into four expert views on the pressing challenges in developing leadership and opportunities to overcome them.
The views we share are from Prof. Michelle Ryan, a gender equality expert, Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology at the Australian National University, and the inaugural Director of GIWL; Dr Tomas Remenyi, a climate scientist and ‘systems thinker’; Sara Redman, a leadership and culture consultant; and Prof. David Day, Professor of Psychological Science and Leadership and the Academic Director of the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College in California (USA).
Gender equality in leadership—fixing the system, rather than ‘fixing’ women
Prof. Michelle Ryan highlighted that gender equality is one of the biggest challenges in leadership development, with a persistent gender gap in leadership. Targeted women leadership development programs, Ryan shared, can perpetuate rather than resolve the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles. She highlighted the widespread reliance on leadership development courses for women as a common response to gender inequality in organisations. “When people think about leadership development in the context of gender equality, they often focus on addressing the lack of women in top leadership positions,” Ryan explained. “The solution typically involves leadership development programs for women—courses designed to teach women leadership skills, strategies, and abilities”.
Ryan challenged the assumption that women’s underrepresentation in leadership roles is due to a lack of their skills or abilities. She argued that this perspective implies a deficit in women themselves, which misdiagnoses the root cause of the issue.
Ryan argued that leadership development programs can unintentionally shift the responsibility for equality onto women while ignoring the systemic barriers that disadvantage them. The focus, she explained, should not be on ‘fixing women’, rather, the focus should be on fixing the systems and cultures that perpetuate inequality (Ryan & Morgenroth, 2024).
Formal leaders, Ryan noted, play a critical role in shaping organisational culture, both formally through policies, and informally, through their conduct and interactions. There is a great opportunity for leadership development programs that equip leaders of all genders with the ability to understand and address systemic and cultural barriers to gender equality.
Leadership development must be nested in systemic collaboration
Drawing from his perspective as a climate scientist, Dr Tomas Remenyi highlighted two critical challenges in leadership development: the complexities of systemic collaboration and the persistently narrow perception of who qualifies as a leader. He argued that these challenges in leadership development hinder our capacity to address complex, interconnected issues like climate crisis.
Enabling leaders to engage in systemic collaboration requires moving from individual efforts to coordinated, collective efforts. And this is difficult. “We have huge, big challenges that are way bigger than one person can take on by themselves”. Yet, most leadership development programs remain focused on developing individual capability—not collective capability.
The key opportunity is for leadership development to promote and allow leaders to practice true collaboration in real-world contexts, where they actively contribute to a cause, rather than focus on purely theoretical learning or individual projects and efforts. Developing leaders to engage in ongoing efforts and real collaboration could empower them to better contribute to complex, global issues such as climate change.
The second challenge raised by Remenyi, is the persistently narrow view of who a leader is. He went on to explain that many capable individuals with the vision and skills necessary for leadership do not see themselves in such roles because they do not fit the traditional mould of a leader as bold, vocal, or authoritative.
This perception excludes a diverse range of potential leaders who could bring valuable perspectives to leadership roles and collaborative leadership efforts. Remenyi sees great opportunity in helping more diverse individuals realise their potential to lead, and in creating opportunities for leaders to develop the capability for truly collaborative action so that—together—we might address global challenges like climate crisis.
Leadership development requires bandwidth
Sara Redman highlighted the challenges of limited bandwidth and the hidden impact of menopause on women leaders. Bandwidth—the mental, emotional, and physical capacity to engage—is a significant barrier to effective leadership development. “If we don’t have the bandwidth, we can’t learn well or go away and apply our learnings”. This challenge extends beyond individuals to teams, particularly when leadership teams lack time to collaborate and apply their development collectively.
Redman emphasised that leadership today is less about having all the answers and more about navigating complexity. “It’s about making sure we can ask the right questions and navigate our way through the complexity”, she said. However, competing priorities and change fatigue often undermine leaders’ ability to reflect and adapt effectively.
In essence, all our efforts to develop leaders—for gender equality, climate crisis, or for any other purpose—are challenged by the fact that leaders lack the bandwidth to engage, reflect, and embed their leadership learning.
Redman also drew attention to menopause as an overlooked challenge that can drain leaders’ energy and focus, thus limiting their bandwidth to lead effectively. “A staggering number of women will be entering into menopause in the next three to five years”. Unlike burnout or mental health, menopause lacks clear treatments or workplace strategies. “It’s not something we can eat well, sleep well, or meditate our way out of”, she added, calling for urgent discussion and support systems, without which, issues of bandwidth and gender equality will only worsen.
Her insights underscore the importance of addressing visible and invisible challenges to leadership development. As Redman concluded, “There are always opportunities to learn and develop leadership; the key is ensuring leaders and teams have the space and support to seize them”.
Leadership development must acknowledge complexity
The key challenge to leadership development highlighted by Prof. David Day is the persisting focus on standalone programs. Within the leadership industry, it is still common practice to lift leaders out of their daily work and send them to an off-side, intensive leadership development program. These programs can sometimes result in changes to the individual attendees, but “sending a changed person back to an unchanged system is a recipe in futility”, Day explained.
Standalone leadership development programs disconnected from the work environment cannot sustain meaningful transformation. This approach to development is like sending leaders to an amusement park—where they enjoy a few fun rides and exhilarating activities—and then return to their work and are sucked back into the status quo. Instead of a ticket to an amusement park, Day suggests leadership development needs to be thought of as a membership to a gym. Instead of a few days of fun offsite, the real opportunity to develop leadership capability resides in regular, embedded exercise and reflection, where leaders are supported to experiment with leadership and reflect on their development in situ. When we think about developing leadership as we would develop physical fitness, we can begin to see that “the ‘gym’ is all around you, in your everyday life, and requires continuous effort for real results”.
The opportunity for meaningful development, Day explained, is in embedding growth into daily work. Leaders should experiment, receive feedback, and learn through real-world challenges. Mistakes, he suggested, are valuable catalysts for learning. Open systems that encourage experimentation and tolerate mistakes are essential for fostering leadership development over time. He also advocated for a shift in investment from pre-packaged programs to tailored solutions.
By focusing on ongoing, context-based development and creating supportive systems, Day’s insights pave the way for leadership development that is better suited to true development and building the capability to navigate modern challenges.
Leadership development for collective growth
Reflecting on the insights shared by the panellists, it becomes clear that the challenges and opportunities in leadership development converge on the need for systemic change, inclusivity, and collaborative, real-world application. The panellists continued to explore the varied aspects of the topic, including psychological safety, hierarchical norms, readiness to develop, and collective action, as essential for fostering diverse voices and driving sustainable change.
Fostering psychological safety and collective capacity
Psychological safety was identified as a critical enabler of leadership development. Sara Redman underscored its role in enabling teams to innovate and collaborate effectively. “If we don’t have the safety to have the tough conversations about both personal and professional challenges, we don’t get traction”, she explained. Psychological safety is not about avoiding conflict, rather it is about creating an environment within which constructive conflict can occur, and diverse voices and perspectives are celebrated.
David Day built on this, introducing the concept of leadership “microclimates”. He suggested, “Rather than trying to change the culture of an entire organisation, start with your team or department. Leaders can have a profound impact by fostering psychological safety within smaller groups”. Michelle Ryan added a related concept, “psychological standing,” which relates to individuals feeling both legitimate and responsible for addressing challenges within their teams or organisations. The concepts of psychological safety, microclimates, and psychological standing shed light on individuals’ capacity and responsibility to create shared environments within which diverse voices can be heard and leadership development can occur.
Breaking out of formal roles and traditional hierarchies
The panel challenged conventional views of leadership as hierarchical and authoritative. Tomas Remenyi argued that this narrow perspective excludes diverse leadership styles and fails to recognise functions such as facilitation and coordination as critical leadership capabilities. “We need leaders at every level”, he said, especially leadership that empowers and enables others.
Michelle Ryan echoed this, questioning how leaders are identified for development. She highlighted that traditional selection processes—such as identifying and investing in ‘high potential’ employees—often reinforce stereotypes, creating a cycle where the same types of leaders are repeatedly chosen. “We need to rethink what high-potential leadership looks like and ensure we’re not simply replicating old norms”. She added that tapping some people on the shoulder for development often has the effect of deterring developmental efforts among those not tapped on the shoulder (Steffens et al., 2018). She suggested that we need to think deeply about whether those who put their hands up for leadership development are necessarily the best candidates to invest development in—because, linking back to Remenyi’s point—sometimes those with the most potential to affect positive change do not identify as leaders.
Remenyi chimed in here, providing examples of informal leadership, such as Greta Thunberg’s in affecting positive change. “Greta never set out to be a leader—it happened as a result of her actions. Leadership isn’t always about strategy; it’s about stepping up and creating change”.
Realising opportunity
The primary opportunity identified is for individuals, development practitioners, educators, and organisations to embrace more inclusive and flexible approaches to leadership development, which identify and unlock the potential of non-prototypical leaders, celebrate a diversity of perspectives, and dismantle the systemic and cultural barriers preventing equality and true collaboration.
To realise this opportunity, we need to
- Help more people become aware of their leadership potential. “Leadership is about people, not titles. Everyone has influence, but many don’t realise it” – Sara Redman
- Capitalise on the everyday opportunities to experiment, reflect on, and develop our own leadership practice. “We need to think about leadership development like a gym membership, not an amusement park pass” – David Day
- Enable collective capacity by creating psychological safety in our teams, celebrating diversity, and encouraging constructive conflict. “There is an absolute importance to create transparent governance that supports diversity and systemic collaboration” – Tom Remenyi
- Work together to shift the cultures and dismantle the structures that prevent us from working together better to address our shared problems, such as gender equality and climate crisis. “There’s no point changing individuals if you’re putting them back into an unchanged system” – Michelle Ryan and David Day
As David Day succinctly put it, “Leadership is everyone’s business. We need to create a broader, deeper capacity for leadership across our organisations and societies”. This sentiment resonated with the audience, reinforcing the need for collective leadership capability to address global challenges like climate change and gender equality.
The discussion left participants inspired to rethink their own leadership practices and invest in environments where diversity thrives. It was a reminder that effective leadership is less about titles and more about influence, collaboration, and the courage to drive positive change.
Talking Leadership Development Series Will Explore These Key Themes
Defining Leadership: Challenging traditional notions and exploring diverse viewpoints on what leadership truly means. Leadership is recognised as a multifaceted phenomenon that varies across cultures, industries, and contexts.
Leadership Development Goals: Examining the aims and objectives driving leadership development initiatives, questioning the true intentions behind these programs, and distinguishing between educating, training, and developing leaders.
Challenges and Opportunities: Addressing the real-world challenges faced by those nurturing future leaders, such as funding issues, lack of robust evidence, and access to research samples. The series will propose innovative solutions and provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of leadership development.
“This work is a significant step in our efforts to explore and build capability around leadership development. Through combining academic and practical perspectives, we aim to foster a deeper understanding of effective leadership in today’s dynamic world.”
Liz Gillies, CEO Menzies Leadership Foundation
