Leadership development isn’t a magic wand that transforms struggling managers into strong leaders overnight. It’s an investment — a real one, with time, money, and effort.
But when done right, the ROI is huge: better leaders mean more productive teams, fewer costly mistakes, and a direct impact on revenue. When managers learn how to coach, delegate, and develop their people, everyone performs at a higher level, and that translates to real business growth.
That said, it’s not the right move for every organization at every moment.
Here at The Metiss Group, we make sure our clients are actually ready for leadership development before they jump in.
Here’s a checklist we’ve developed to help you decide:
- Do You Have a Dedicated Budget for Leadership Development?
- Are Your Leaders Motivated to Lead?
- Are the Right People in the Right Seats?
- Are Your Leaders Willing to Grow?
- Does Your Organization Have Time for Leadership Development?
- Do Your Senior Leaders Support Leadership Development?
- Does Your Company Offer a Safe Place for Leaders to Learn, Try, and Fail?
1. Do You Have a Dedicated Budget for Leadership Development?
If leadership development is an afterthought — if it doesn’t have a dedicated line item in your budget — then it’s not really a priority.
Too many companies say they want better leaders, but when it comes time to invest in training, coaching, and assessments, they look for the cheapest option. Or worse, they do nothing at all.
One of our former CEO friends and master chair for Vistage, Dave Zerfoss, said it best: “If you don’t have a line item in your budget for leadership development, you’re not taking leadership development seriously.”
There’s this old saying: “Well what if I develop them, and they leave?” When you should really be asking, “What if I don’t develop them and they stay?”
2. Are Your Leaders Motivated to Lead?
Not everyone who gets promoted to a leadership role actually wants to lead.
Some people see leadership as the logical next step in their career, even if they have no real passion for developing others. Maybe they think it’s the only way to make a little more money if they’re at the top of their game as an individual contributor.
But leadership isn’t just another title. It’s about coaching, inspiring, and taking responsibility for a team’s success. If someone doesn’t genuinely want to lead, you’re just wasting time and money developing someone in a role where they’ll never be happy.
Ask yourself: are your leaders excited about the idea of supporting the development of others to achieve their potential, and getting superstars to achieve more through a team than as individuals? Or do they see it as just another box to check?
3. Are the Right People in the Right Seats?
Leadership development won’t save a bad hire or fix a performance issue.
If you have the wrong person in the wrong seat and they’re not performing well, and you don't have courage to give them feedback and develop them, then sticking them in some coaching program is not going to be the solution.
This isn’t for employees on a performance improvement plan.
4. Are Your Leaders Willing to Grow?
Leadership development only works if the people involved want to get better. That sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many leaders walk into training thinking they already have it all figured out.
If someone isn’t open to feedback, isn’t willing to reflect on their blind spots, or doesn’t believe they have anything to improve, leadership development won’t work. Growth requires humility.
Maybe you see high potential in an emerging leader, but when you’ve sent them to training or development in the past, you haven’t seen the ROI. If you realize they’re just going through the motions and they’re content where they are, then investing in their leadership development is just a waste.
It’s not just your emerging leaders who need to be willing to grow, but also your executive team. I’ve heard clients say, “I’m not going to put my executive team through leadership training because they’re retiring in five years.” But a lot can happen in five years! Do you really want the negative effects of sluggish leadership on the rest of your team for the next five years?
The best leaders are constantly learning and adapting — not clinging to the idea they’re already perfect.
5. Does Your Organization Have Time for Leadership Development?
Leadership development takes time, not just for the leaders themselves but for the entire organization.
Many of the solutions The Metiss Group recommends have 360 surveys, which require multiple people to provide feedback on a leader. That means employees, peers, and even higher-ups need to be involved. If your company is in the middle of a major restructuring or already stretched thin, now might not be the best time.
One of our clients does all of their performance reviews in September — it's crazy. Basically nothing else gets done in the business while everyone creates and delivers these reviews. Shortly after this tedious task, leaders begin working on next year's budgets.
Autumn is NOT the right time of year for them to embark on leadership development. They just don't have the mental or physical space to give it the commitment it deserves.
Before starting, ask yourself: does your organization have the bandwidth to fully commit to leadership development? If not, it may be better to wait until things settle down.
One of my favorite stories to tell is of a leader who thought he didn’t need leadership development because he had been leading for over 20 years. I told him, “I've been golfing for over 20 years and still need lessons.”
6. Do Your Senior Leaders Support Leadership Development?
If leadership development is only happening at lower levels while senior leaders ignore it, don’t expect it to work. Leadership culture starts at the top.
If executives aren’t modeling the behaviors they want to see — if they don’t value emotional intelligence, resist feedback, or dismiss coaching — why would emerging leaders take it seriously?
The message being sent is only poor leaders or those showing a deficit need development — the rest of us have already achieved success in leadership. Leadership development needs buy-in at every level, especially from those already in leadership roles.
If your senior leaders aren’t setting the right example, the rest of the organization isn’t likely to follow.
A good way to know if your organization supports leadership development is whether or not leadership development is included in your performance management tools.
7. Does Your Company Offer a Safe Place for Leaders to Learn, Try, and Fail?
Leadership development only works if leaders can apply what they’ve learned without fear of failure. If your organization punishes mistakes or expects perfection from new leaders, leadership development won’t work.
We rarely do things well the first time we try something new. So to become proficient takes multiple purposeful attempts and practice before you become increasingly better.
At The Metiss Group, we emphasize the 70-20-10 model of leadership development:
- 70% of learning happens through experience — leaders need real opportunities to try new approaches and solve problems firsthand.
- 20% comes from relationships — coaching, mentorship, and peer feedback help leaders refine their skills.
- 10% comes from formal learning — workshops, training, and structured education provide the foundation.
Leaders need space to apply what they’ve learned, reflect on what worked (and what didn’t), and get feedback without fear of judgment.
Ask yourself: Does your company encourage learning through experience, or does it expect perfection from the start?
So, Is Your Team Ready?
If you can check off most of this list, your organization is in a great position to invest in leadership development. But if there are gaps — if leadership training is seen as a box to check, or if you’re hoping it will fix deeper issues — it might be worth addressing those first.
If you’re ready to invest in Leadership Development, we at The Metiss Group can help. We have almost 30 years of experience helping small- and mid-sized businesses grow their teams.
So what’s the next step? Now that you understand if your team is ready for growth, the next step is to talk to one of our behavior coaches to see if we can help. This is your chance to talk about the problems your team is having and what you’d hope to accomplish through leadership development. This conversation will help us show you the best solution for your needs.
Just fill out the form below to get started.
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