The Missing Link in Leadership Training: Vertical Growth
The Missing Link in Leadership Training: Cultivating Vertical Growth
Most leadership programs deliver content. But delivering content is not the same as creating change.
The real problem: content over transformation
Too many leadership trainings center on knowledge—frameworks, models, techniques. That’s horizontal development: learning what to do. It’s measurable. It fits neatly into budgets. But it rarely changes behavior Executive Realms.
Leadership isn’t just a set of behaviors—it’s born from a mindset that shapes how we act, how we adapt, and how we lead others. If that mindset doesn’t shift, behavior won’t follow.
What leadership really means—and why it matters
“Leadership” is one of those words that can mean almost anything:
A formal position or role at the top.
A capacity—skill or potential to lead.
The act of leading, as in the ongoing process.
A group or collective of leaders.
When we talk about leadership development, we must decide which meaning applies. In this article, I’m talking about capacity—the shared ability to lead across the organization. Because leadership can’t live only at the top: it has to be a company-wide muscle—from engineers to the C-suite.
That’s how you build adaptability and cultural transformation.
Horizontal vs. vertical: why both matter, but one is often forgotten
Horizontal development teaches you how to do things—tools, methods, leadership frameworks.
Vertical development reshapes how you think, the lens you use, the energy behind your actions.
Training without follow-up leaves new behaviors hanging. You can teach someone a new lead-coach style in 20 minutes—but truly adopting it? That may take months or even years. True growth involves mindset shifts and sustained support.
A real-life example of how things go sideways
I once worked with a company undergoing an agile transformation. They had about 60 product owners—but just one product-owner coach, and that coach had a full-time job too. The result:
The product owners knew what to do.
They did not change how they led.
They reverted to old habits.
The transformation—a major investment in time and money—stalled.
That’s the cost of investing only in horizontal development—lots of knowledge, zero change. And in that case, it nearly derailed everything.
So, what actually works?
Leadership development programs need to embed vertical support:
Coaching and mentoring to translate learning into behavior.
Feedback loops, so new habits stick.
Organizational-wide growth, so leadership becomes a shared capacity.
Without these, training becomes expensive theater—not transformation.
Why mindset change takes longer—and matters more
Psychology and neuroscience tell us this: your brain’s “operating system” is rooted in patterns. Knowledge can be stored quickly, but mindset change requires time and reinforcement. You can learn a leadership skill with a 20-minute workshop—but internalizing it so you do it? That’s a weeks- or months-long journey.
It reminds me of reading sacred texts (not to make this a faith discussion). You can read, understand, even memorize—but belief only comes when the ideas transform your behavior. The point isn’t reading—it’s living.
In my own journey...
Back in 1996, I read The One-Minute Manager a few times—the book was maybe 50 pages. I thought it would make me a better manager. I knew it inside out. Then… nothing changed. I still behaved the same. No mentor. No coach. Zero follow-through.
Years later—now specializing in organizational psychology and leading transformation efforts—I rarely see behavioral change happen without vertical support. A few engineers who were intrinsically motivated made strides. But they were exceptions.
Most people need:
Structure to help them rehearse new behaviors.
Accountability to sustain change.
Without it, ambitions don’t lead to advancement—skills don’t convert into results, and learning becomes wasted effort.
The bottom line
Leadership training must pair content with support. You can’t just train people—you must coach them. Programs that ignore vertical growth waste time, money, and goodwill.
If you're serious about developing leaders, do this:
Lean into coaching and mentoring.
Implement feedback loops.
Think of leadership as a shared capability, not an elite skill.
Invest in vertical growth. Because changing how people think—not just what they know—is the missing link that actually moves the needle.