Why Your Training Isn’t Working—And What to Do Instead

I started my training business in 2004.

Back then, I did what most people in the industry did:
I studied frameworks, got familiar with competency models, met certified trainers—many of them experts in Instructional System Design, especially the ADDIE framework.

It worked.
At least in the world, we used to live in.

ADDIE was built to design and deliver training in a structured, repeatable way.
It was excellent for technical skills—manufacturing, compliance, customer service—anything where everyone needs to do the same thing, the same way, at scale.

Competency mapping made sense in environments that needed control, consistency, and standardization.
In that world, it worked.

But here’s the hard truth:
The world changed. The training didn’t.

The Old Training Playbook Is Broken

We’re still sending leaders to classrooms so training managers can tick boxes.

↳ The workshop gets delivered.
↳ The attendance sheet is signed.
↳ The feedback forms say “engaging” or “informative.”

Then Monday comes.
Nothing changes.

Because knowledge ≠ transformation.
And strategy ≠ slides.

Why Most Leadership Training Doesn’t Stick

I’ve seen leadership programs with 64 competencies.

Sixty-four.

As if effectiveness is a checklist.
As if a leader in today’s volatile, uncertain world can master a rigid playbook—and call it a day.

But real leadership doesn’t live in binders.
It lives in decisions. Conversations. Pressure. Complexity.

And many of the things great leaders need to learn today?
They’re not even named yet.

↳ They’re not in the competency model.
↳ They’re not in the LMS.
↳ They emerge only through real-time challenges and strategic demands.

This is the new reality:
The best training is not standardized. It’s aligned.

Training Without Strategy Is Just Activity

You can have world-class facilitators. Engaging slides. Perfect logistics.

But if your training isn’t tied to where the business is going—
If it’s not solving a strategic problem or enabling a strategic shift—
Then it’s just noise.

You don’t need more workshops.
You need training that gives your people the thinking, tools, and behaviors that match your next bold move.

Because if your strategy demands speed, agility, collaboration, or transformation—
Your training must be designed to build those things, not just talk about them.

A New Way Forward

Forget the box-ticking.
Forget the 3-day events that feel good but go nowhere.

Start with this:

• What is the strategy?
• What decisions must your leaders make to bring it to life?
• What mindset, skillset, and toolset do they need to succeed?
• What old habits must die—and what new behaviors must emerge?

Then design training around that.

↳ Real-world simulations.
↳ Just-in-time learning.
↳ Co-created experiences with your best people, not for them.
↳ Feedback loops that improve not just performance, but thinking.

That’s when training becomes transformation.

How I Help

As a strategy coach, I design training that aligns with where you’re going—not where you’ve been.

I help teams learn in motion.
I cut through theory and deliver learning that’s bold, real, and deeply connected to strategy.

We don’t measure learning by attendance.
We measure it by impact.

If your team is just “completing” training, you’re not growing leaders.
You’re just keeping records.

Let’s shift that—together.

Because in this new world, the most dangerous thing isn’t ignorance.
It’s clinging to the training that used to work.