A teacher of mine said something that I think pertains to leadership development as well as to other areas of life. He said that it is with us humans as it is with world of plants. There is no status quo. Either things are growing or dying slowly.
So the question is are your growing as a person and as a leader through leadership development…or are you dying slowly. Things do not remain the same. Just in our body over 90 percent of the cells are exhanged within one year.
It is easy to do leadership development also, it does not have to be a big thing or a fancy training that you attend. It can be just reading an article online or a book half an hour a day. It could be taking the time once a week to reflect what has gone well the past week and what you could do better as a leader.
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While I agree that it’s easy to do the activity of leadership development (training, reading), I think it’s not at all easy to perform effectively as a leader. Dr. Robert Hogan, a former professor of mine, used to say that the base rate for managerial ineffectiveness is upwards of 50%. That means, that many managers are not effective, even though they may have advanced degrees, many years of experience, and many leadership certifications.
Part of the issue is both the lack of science behind leadership development (e.g. emphasizing non-learning aspects like selection and work environment), and a narrow view of formal versus informal modes of leadership development.