We’re Spending Billions to Develop Leaders
May 27, 2025
And Still Boring People to Death
If leadership development was working, the world would be a very different place.
But it’s not.
We’re shoveling upwards of $100 billion a year into leadership programs globally, and yet only 23% of employees are engaged at work (thanks for the depressing truth, Gallup). That’s not an investment strategy.
That’s setting fire to money with a PowerPoint slide.
Let’s be blunt: we don’t have a leadership problem.
We have a leadership development problem.
We’re developing leaders for a world that no longer exists. One built on hierarchy, control, and “managing performance.” One where your boss judged your worth by how long your bum stayed in a seat.
But since the pandemic flipped the world upside down and AI stormed in like an unpaid intern on a mission, the workplace has changed. Dramatically. Leadership hasn’t.
We’re still teaching managers how to “motivate” people with KPIs and policies, instead of helping them become coaches who inspire performance through purpose. We’re giving them frameworks to delegate tasks instead of empowering them to delegate outcomes.
And we wonder why people are quietly quitting in droves.
Here’s a Circle Leadership reality check:
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You can’t boss someone into greatness.
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You can’t PowerPoint your way into trust.
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And you definitely can’t hold onto your 1990s leadership style in a 2025 world and expect results.
The issue isn’t that we aren’t investing enough in leadership development. It’s that we’re investing in the wrong damn thing.
We keep confusing content with clarity. Flooding leaders with more models, more slides, more "7 steps to being a better you."
But what they really need is Relevance. Wisdom. Simplicity. Clarity.
They don’t need another course. They need context. They need to learn how to lead humans first, employees second. They need to build ecosystems of leadership, not egosystems of control.
They need to ditch performance management and step into performance leadership, where it's about leading people toward meaningful outcomes, not ticking boxes.
At Circle Leadership, we say it plainly: We’re not just trying to be the best in the world. We’re helping leaders become the best for the world.
That means evolving from boss to coach.
From hierarchies to purpose-driven ecosystems.
From noise to meaning.
And if that makes us sound a bit crazy to some… good. The world doesn’t need more conventional leaders. It needs trailblazers. It needs mavericks who actually give a damn. It needs people like you — the ones willing to lead different so your team can go further.
Because until we stop training leaders to survive the past, and start preparing them to shape the future, employee engagement will remain a sad little metric in a report no one reads.
Let’s evolve the world of work.
On purpose.
It's time to lead different.
Together, we can evolve the world of work
Dave Clare, CEO & Founder of Circle Leadership
