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Plants need tending, otherwise they will wilt and die, or rot. Especially the ones that are useful either for aesthetic value (pretty flowers) or sustenance (food). There are a few exceptions (cactus).

While it is not a perfect analogy, I hope it gets the point across. When creating a leadership bench, organizing training programs is just one element. You also have to create a support system that will cheer, encourage, motivate, and course correct. Much like a support group for recovering alcoholics.

When you set up your support group, you will discover:

• Role models, or lack thereof.
• Role models who cannot coach.
• Good coaches who do not want to coach.

You need to fill this gap with urgency. The support system has to be within the organization, and cannot be external. The leadership lessons need to be retained in the organization to begin the virtuous cycle of improvements.

The support group is critical because leadership training creates change agents. By definition, change agents are disruptive. If the change agents are not encouraged to drive change, they will revert to their old behaviors, rendering your investment in leadership training worthless.