There are hundreds of companies large and small that offer services to help leaders grow and get greater results, ours included. This means there is a large market of organizations that look for, secure and use these services to equip their leaders to become more effective. There are many more organizations that create and provide leadership development activities for internal use.

Yet for every organization (or department or regional office) that does value and develop their leaders, there are many more who don’t.

Today I share with you some of the reasons I have heard, and more accurately the reasons that are unspoken, as to why so many provide so little to support the development of their leaders. Taken individually, they have merit. Put together, they paint a picture of excuses – because most everyone would agree that leaders can be developed and most feel their leaders could improve, yet, many don’t take any action at all.

Here are nine reasons/excuses for this situation.

“It costs too much/isn’t in the budget.” The top of this hit parade is usually money. This reason/excuse is really two in one. The budget is an outgrowth of another item on this list (it isn’t a priority). Budgeting is really just a prioritization tool. By default, the things we do spend money on are deemed as more important than those we don’t. Yes, I know there are seasons or situations in the life cycle of a business where funds really are tight – but that is rarely the real reason. The “costs too much” cousin isn’t always about money alone either; it is often more about the next item on the list. . .

“Leadership training doesn’t work.” Lots of people have gone to leadership training or sent people to leadership training and seen few (if any) results or results that were far too temporary in nature. The training could well be part of the problem, but is seldom all of it. If we want to develop leaders, we must do more than training, and training is part of what is required. The fact is leadership training (or any training for that matter) won’t work alone – the participant must work too.

“Our leaders are doing ok.” This is the complacency argument. Things are “fine.” We don’t have any major problems. That is certainly a better place to be than having lots of leadership challenges, but is fine really what you are aspiring to? Consider this: when leaders become more effective it has a ripple effect across the team, spreading greater productivity and a host of better results. If “ok” is good enough, fine. But I’m betting that isn’t what you really want.

“If you select correctly, you don’t have to do more training.” There are two problems with this reason/excuse: many organizations select based on technical skill or knowledge, rather than leadership skill, and leadership requires a complex set of skills that can’t be mastered quickly. Selection is important, but even perfect selection leaves newly promoted leaders with new skill gaps and opportunities for growth.

“We are too busy to do (leadership) training.” And one of the reasons we are “too busy” is that our leaders are spending time putting out fires, or doing too much of the work themselves, rather than coaching and supporting process improvement. Training requires time (though there are some ways to manage the learning process more effectively), and that time spent can be seen as an investment, to reduce future busy-ness. When leaders lead, they are preventing fires, which change the amount and nature of the work for everyone. (Tweet That.)

“I figured it out, so can they.” This is the hazing mentality. Did you figure it out soon enough and fast enough? Just because you survived it, does that make it the best way to prepare the next leaders?

“It is important, but it isn’t at the top of or priority list.” This is a cousin to several others on the list. And even if people aren’t saying this, through their actions, it is the fact. In the short term, or for a particular time period, this may be a wise choice. However, if leadership training never makes it up the list, the perils and risks to the organizations current and future health are significant.

“We have some internal supervisory/leadership training.” If so, congratulations! My question would be, are you allowing your internal trainers to really help people build leadership skills, or just teach the policies, procedures and laws? Keeping leaders aware of policy and keeping them (and you) out of jail is important, but leadership is far more than that. If you are delivering internal training, make sure it is delivering what you really need.

“We focus on development of middle (or senior) managers.” Organizations that invest in leaders at any level are making a great investment. If that is you, congratulations! And, why would we want leaders at other levels to flounder or have challenges? Consider investing in leaders at all levels. If you would like to think more about the value of training leaders, and starting earlier, please download my free special report, Seven Reasons Why New Supervisor Training Is Essential, now.

So what are your reasons?

Why do I share this? My hope is that some will read this and see themselves in some of these words and decide to move past these and take some tangible action. I also hope this will galvanize internal voices speaking for leadership development to help them advocate more effectively. Lastly, I hope this reinforces the resolve of organizations who do invest in their leaders to stay the course. For all of the other reasons to do it, building your leaders provides you with competitive advantage over organizations that don’t.

“Thank you”

Saying “thank you” is something most of us learn at a young age. It’s something we teach to our children too. We all know that gratitude is important, which is why in many parts of the world, we have a day called Thanksgiving to remind us to be thankful.

It is unfortunate in many ways that we have such a day. Yes, it may remind us on that day to be thankful, grateful and appreciative – but the fact is that we will benefit greatly if we do it with much more regularity.

Regularly, like daily or even hourly.

I’ve had lots of times in my life when I was reminded why being grateful is so important. My reasons and situations don’t really matter. They just highlight this fact for me – and that my renewed insight comes at this season, leads me to write and share with you.

The behavior of being grateful goes beyond saying “thank you,” though that is one of the actions that should be included. More specifically what I mean is consciously and regularly looking for and acknowledging the things you are thankful for or appreciate. Some people choose to keep a gratitude journal, some make occasional lists and some make a mental note as they think about or become aware of such things.

The purpose of this article is not to suggest or advocate for any particular method, but rather to implore you to be grateful; for when you are, your life will be drastically altered for the better.

Before I share these five ways with you, let me make one thing very clear: the reasons to be grateful are many, but do not include a quid pro quo of “If I’m grateful, I’ll get these benefits.” Rather choose to be grateful, do the things that heighten your appreciation of the world around you and your circumstances, and rest assured these benefits will flow to you.

What we think about expands. This is the foundational principle for the other four ways that follow. Would you like more of the things you are grateful for in your life? When you think on those things and are grateful for their presence, you are already taking the first step towards expanding them in your life!

Reduce your stress. We add much stress to our lives by the things we think about, wonder about and worry about. If you are thinking appreciative, grateful thoughts, there is less room for the rest. When you are grateful for what you have, you will reduce your stress.

Change your focus. Being grateful in these ways changes your focus by definition. Our minds are built to literally allow us to see the things we are looking for. When you approach life from the perspective of thankfulness, your mind will literally notice more examples of things to be thankful for, and even help you do a better job of seeing the positive in any situation.

Improve your relationships. Do this exercise with me. Think of a person that is a challenge in your life – a person that makes something difficult for you; someone that frustrates you or with whom you argue with frequently. Write that person’s name at the top of a piece of paper and write down five admirable things about that person – five skills, abilities or characteristics about that person that you can appreciate. Once you have done that, commit to thinking about those attributes or characteristics the next time you are around or working with that person. As you think of those things you appreciate (even when you are frustrated or in disagreement), your thinking about the person and your attitude will change. By taking this step of gratitude and appreciation you are taking a huge step towards improving your relationship.

Improve your self-image. The more you think about the good things in your life, and the more you notice and observe what is working well in your life, and the better you will feel about yourself! And the even better news is that as your self-image improves, your focus and your relationships will continue to improve and your stress will (everything else being equal) continue to drop.

The benefits of gratitude go far beyond doing something because it’s the “right thing” to do. When you begin to notice and take inventory of all of the things you are thankful for, you recognize that even though your life may have challenges and you might be facing obstacles, you can build your future success on the blessings around you right now.

Everyone has a huge number of things, people and circumstances for which to be thankful. When you invest the time and focus to notice and acknowledge these things, you create space and energy to draw even more positive experiences and circumstances into your life.

This post is written to celebrate Homemade Bread Day, and while it may seem strange to connect homemade bread and leadership, please get past the quirkiness and follow along. I believe there are powerful points that follow, even if you aren’t (gasp!) a fan of homemade bread.

As I made notes to create this article, I thought about the things that make homemade bread so special and tied them to important leadership ideas. Most importantly though, I have chosen to provide you with a challenge related to each of those connections. If you have a recollection of a great slice of homemade bread, revel in that as you read. . .

There is Positive Anticipation

Several important people in my life have made homemade bread, including my mother, wife and mother-in-law. All of them make excellent bread. But the person I most connect homemade bread with is my Grandmother. She made it every week for most of her life, and it was awesome. And as a kid I can remember the anticipation of knowing it was “bread day” and the feeling of walking in knowing bread would be baking, or hopefully, already be out of the oven.

As a leader, people likely have some anticipation of your arrival for a meeting, or what to expect when you walk into their work area. While it may not carry the fond positive emotions I have just described, what do they anticipate?

As a leader, how do people feel when they think about your presence, your actions and the way you lead? Is it positive? If not, how can you begin to change that anticipation, even a little bit starting today?

The Effort Required is Necessary and Noticed

Anyone can go to the store and pick up a loaf of bread. Making bread requires forethought, planning, effort and time. Even before you take your first delicious bite, you know that effort and care went into creating what you are about to enjoy.

Anyone can be promoted to a role of leadership. Doing it well goes far beyond a job title. To be even marginally effective you must work at it. To become significant (or as I would say remarkable) at it requires dedicated effort to get better at the skills required, and a care for those you are leading. The effort and care will be noticed, as will the lack of it if you lead like a loaf of nondescript store brand white bread.

How much effort are you putting into your role as a leader? If you care about the organization and the people you lead, how does it show?

It Creates Something More

The Grandma homemade bread experience was about more than the bread. It started with the smell. It was inviting. It drew you in, the warmth and aroma adding to the experience. It wasn’t just about a piece of bread for sustenance.

The best leaders are also creating something more – something more lasting, something more real. They aren’t just “doing the work” of a leader, but rather are creating a place and an environment where people can grow and thrive.

What are you creating for your team?

It is Unique

No two loaves of homemade bread are exactly alike. In the store? All the same. Pick up five and you can’t tell them apart. But homemade? All a bit different in how the ingredients interacted with the pan and the heat. They are wonderfully different – and that actually makes it better.

Great leaders know they don’t need to be, nor should they strive to be like any other leader. (Tweet That)

Yes, they need to learn and grow and adapt. Yes, they need to apply principles that will improve their ability to be successful. And they need to be themselves. There is no one perfect way to lead – you must bring yourself, imperfections and all, to the role.

Are you willing to continue to improve but still be yourself? Are you willing to let your team see you as a human as well as a leader?

I made more connections than these between homemade bread and leadership, but I believe these are the strongest and most powerful. If you think of others, please ponder them as well (and share them in the comments below). Mostly though I hope you leave these words hearing my challenges, and taking them on in your own leadership journey.

I also hope this was helpful, and didn’t leave you feeling too hungry.

Before you read, do yourself a favor and watch this video.

Why did I want you to watch a boy doing amazing things with ping pong balls, plastic cups and household items?

Because this video, in less than four minutes, illustrates a number of important points about learning. More than just “points” though, these are more like profound truths.

Here are some of the truths I see . . .

Learning Is an Upward Spiral

When learning something new, we start small, and as we master one thing, we have the opportunity to expand our knowledge (and in this case skills), from that base on to the next thing or next level of complexity. While I don’t know that this video is shown in the order of the completion of the tricks, you can bet the last one you see isn’t the first one he mastered. And when he started, he likely couldn’t imagine what was later possible.

So it is with us. As we learn and our horizon and perspective grows we see possibilities, opportunities and levels of productivity we couldn’t originally fathom.

Practice Matters

There is virtually no chance that any of these trick were completed on the first try – and even if they had been, there wouldn’t have been a video camera running. I wish we had a video of some of the practice that went into those four minutes. It might not have been as entertaining (though it might have been), but it would have been more instructive.

Practice is a necessary part of learning a skill – knitting a sweater, riding a bike, playing the piano, anything. This young man put in the practice and reaps the rewards. Are you?

Mastery Takes Time

Practice takes time. And to become a master at anything takes time. Much has been written about the 10,000 hour rule – that 10,000 hours are required to master a skill. I don’t know how many hours this young man has put in, but it is clearly many.

What do you aspire to master?

Are you putting in the dedicated, intentional time to get there?

Learning Can (and Should Be) Fun

Yes, it was fun to watch this, but look at the young man – he is smiling and having a good time succeeding at what he learned. And more than that, if there wasn’t enjoyment in the practice process, how likely would he have ever gotten to the end point?

We can easily enjoy the fruits of our learning, and we should, but are you enjoying the process of learning? If not, you might be doing something wrong.

Learning Creates Energy and Confidence

Again, look at the young master. Do you see the confidence? Do you feel the energy in the fist pump? You know how it feels when you have nailed the performance of any skill? You didn’t get to that place without learning. As human beings we are learning beings – and we are at our best when we are learning (Tweet That!) – so why would it be surprising that learning would create energy, confidence and a variety of other positive physical and biochemical reactions?

There Are Opportunities for Learning Everywhere

Seriously, a video camera, a young boy, ping pong balls and plastic cups.

And look at all we can learn from it. These opportunities are all around us, if we just look. I’m sure there are many more lessons in these four minutes, but these are important and worthy of your consideration and application.

What else did you learn (about learning or anything else) from watching this video and reading this post?