The North "Poll": What a small poll tells us about a big leadership problem

I created a poll this past week and to say it was just revealing is an understatement. The intended audience was HR leaders, L&D directors, and business owners, however I did make sure that other managers, directors and VPs could respond as well.

The poll asked how many leadership programs they've sponsored or hosted as a company. I am ok admitting that maybe I am just naive but I thought the results would be overwhelmingly 1-2 or 2-3 over the last year. What I found shocked me and was a bit surprising.

I posted the poll in 2 notable leadership groups here on LinkedIn and received a total of 158 votes as of today. Not a huge sample size, but enough to make it valid. Here is the shocker, of those 158 responses, 43% of the respondents said they've had 0 leadership trainings or development programs this past year.

Ok, you can pick your jaw up off the ground now. Don't worry, I had to do the same.

To me, it seems almost criminal to see that companies don't invest in the training and development of their leadership. In many cases people are thrusted into a leadership role with little to no idea of how to actually lead others. In fact most people are hired to do a specific job as an individual contributor. They were adequately trained to do that job and then, through hard work became really good at it. So good that they were noticed and promoted into a leadership role that they were not originally trained how to do. If this new leader is not then trained or coached to lead others, it often leads to workplace horrors such as, high turnover, toxic culture, unproductive teams, and disengaged, unhappy employees. None of which leads teams, departments and even companies to success.

Maybe my shock at this poll was because I assumed companies knew this. I assumed that most companies put more of an investment into leadership development knowing it was the core of their success.

Yes, I know the old saying about what happens when you "assume". But I am glad I did the poll and while I had my speculations about the results, I am also glad they didn't align with those speculations. Why? Because the poll sparked a conversation and a connection that I was grateful for.

Meet Janine: Currently in a sales role, but left a leadership role as a supervisor of an IT department. Why would you leave a leadership role to land a sales job? Well, I asked the same question. Her answer? Poor/toxic/non-people oriented leadership. Janine was a fantastic leader as displayed in her direct report's comments about her, and the company's unyielding desire for her to stay when she put in her two-weeks notice. Based on our conversation there was one clear reason the person "managing" (can't really call it leadership) her was so bad at leading. He clearly lacked the skills to help her grow, develop, thrive in a successful leadership role herself. He clearly didn't put her success above his own and didn't lead with Gratitude, Generosity, and Genuineness. And while that is his responsibility, his company is not providing him the resources needed to change that mindset and develop his team into legends.

My very educated and data driven guess is there are too many "Janines" out there, and way too many "Janine's former bosses" out there. But there is an easy fix. Companies need to start investing in developing and training their leadership on how to take care of the people they are entrusted with. Realizing this will make your company legendary. 43% is 43% too much. My goal is that this number is 0% and that every company takes their leadership development as serious as their revenue goals.

Can you relate? Comment or reply. I'd love to hear your story and maybe I can help!

Merry Christmas!