Free Whitepaper

State of Leadership Development 2024

Most leadership development programs fail not because of bad intentions but because they target the wrong problems. This report identifies the people management challenges organizations actually face, and maps them to remedies that work.

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What is this whitepaper about?

This report examines the state of leadership development across organizations in 2024, with a focus on diagnosing the specific people management challenges that most derail managers and the teams they lead. Rather than presenting aspirational best practices, it starts from a harder question: where do organizations actually struggle, and why do conventional leadership programs keep missing the mark?

Leadership development does not fail at the strategy level. It fails at the moment a manager tries to apply a framework to a real conversation, a real conflict, or a real person who does not follow the script.

The research surfaces a recurring pattern. Organizations invest in leadership training that is disconnected from the daily realities managers face. Managers receive generic frameworks but lack the context-specific skill building to translate learning into behavior change. This report names that gap and offers evidence-based remedies grounded in how leadership development actually sticks.

What does this whitepaper cover?

The top people management challenges in 2024

A structured diagnostic of the challenges organizations consistently report, from communication breakdowns to performance conversations managers avoid.

Why current programs fall short

Analysis of the structural reasons most leadership development investments do not translate into lasting behavior change at the manager level.

What effective development actually looks like

Evidence-based remedies that address specific challenges, including what distinguishes organizations where leadership development produces measurable outcomes.

A framework for prioritizing your L&D investments

Practical guidance for HR and L&D leaders on sequencing leadership development interventions based on the challenges with the highest organizational cost.

What you'll learn

The report moves through three stages: diagnosing the problem landscape, understanding why conventional approaches miss, and identifying what remedies hold up in practice.

The people management challenges that cost organizations most

Not all leadership gaps carry equal weight. This section identifies the challenges, from feedback avoidance to poor delegation, that have the highest downstream impact on team performance and retention.

The gap between leadership training and manager behavior

Why managers complete training programs and return to doing what they have always done. The research points to specific design flaws in how most organizations structure leadership development, and what to do differently.

How skill development compounds over time

Insight into why short-burst interventions rarely stick, and how organizations that build sustained, personalized development cadences see compounding skill improvement rather than one-time upticks.

The role of psychological safety in manager growth

Why managers who lack a safe space to practice, reflect, and fail without judgment develop more slowly, and how creating lower-stakes learning environments accelerates behavior change.

Remedies that map to specific challenges

Rather than generic recommendations, this section pairs each identified challenge with remedies that have evidence behind them, so HR leaders can make targeted investments rather than broad bets.

How to measure leadership development outcomes

A practical look at the metrics that actually indicate development is working, beyond completion rates and satisfaction scores.

Who should read this whitepaper?

HR and L&D leaders evaluating their leadership programs

Use this report to benchmark your current challenges against what organizations face broadly, and identify which remedies are most applicable to your context.

CHROs and people leaders making budget decisions

The research provides a structured case for where leadership development investment produces the highest return, grounded in the specific challenges organizations actually face.

Talent and OD professionals designing development programs

Get a clear picture of the gaps your programs need to address and the design principles that separate programs producing real behavior change from those that do not.

Download the State of Leadership Development 2024 Report

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Research on the real people management challenges organizations face and the remedies that work

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Frequently asked questions

Is this research based on Risely's own data?

The report draws on Risely's experience working with 3,000+ users across 40+ organizations, combined with broader research on leadership development effectiveness and people management challenges. It is informed by Risely's data but designed to be relevant beyond Risely customers.

How is this different from generic leadership trend reports?

Most trend reports describe what good leadership looks like. This report focuses on diagnosing why organizations fall short and pairing those specific challenges with remedies that have evidence behind them. The orientation is diagnostic and prescriptive, not aspirational.

Is this relevant for organizations with established L&D programs?

Yes, and particularly so. Organizations with existing programs often invest more but see diminishing returns because the programs are not calibrated to the specific challenges their managers face. This report helps identify where existing investments may be misaligned.

Can I share this report internally to make the case for leadership development investment?

Yes. The report is designed to be used exactly that way. It provides the diagnostic framing and supporting evidence that HR and L&D leaders need to build internal alignment around leadership development priorities.

How long is the report?

The report is approximately 25 pages, structured to be read in a single sitting or used as a reference by section depending on your specific challenge area.