Why Trainings Alone Aren’t Enough

You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. And you certainly can’t drop it straight into a steeplechase without preparation.

Training a horse starts in the ring. The basics are learned in a safe, controlled environment. But unless you move from the ring to the course—with mud, noise, crowds, and real obstacles—the horse won’t be ready when it counts.

Leadership development is no different. Workshops (the ring) are necessary, but they aren’t sufficient. If leaders never get guided practice in the real world—the course—they’ll stumble the first time the stakes are high.

Why Trainings Alone Don’t Work

Executives often assume that if they hold enough workshops, results will follow. But the data tells a different story:

• Only 15% of learning happens in formal training. The other 85% is built through practice, reinforcement, and accountability on the job.
• The forgetting curve shows that without application, most knowledge disappears within weeks.
• It takes 18 to 254 repetitions for behavior to become habit. No single training session delivers that.

So while workshops spark energy, they rarely sustain change. The ROI evaporates before leaders get back to their desks.

What Actually Creates Growth

Real transformation requires integration. Leaders need structured opportunities to:

• Apply skills in their actual work.
• Get feedback and accountability from peers and coaches.
• Reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and why.
• Repeat the cycle until new behaviors stick.

That’s why our proprietary process goes far beyond the workshop. Yes, we use them—but they’re only the spark. The real shift comes from what surrounds them: a system that ensures leaders don’t just learn, they live the behaviors until they own them.

Back to the Steeplechase

The truth is, you can’t prepare for a race by riding circles in the ring. And you can’t prepare leaders for real challenges with workshops alone.

The real test comes on the course—under pressure, with obstacles, in front of the crowd. That’s where winners are made. And that’s where leadership growth has to happen.