Most companies believe they're investing in leadership.
Most companies are lying—to themselves.

Not because they want to.
Because it's easier than facing the uncomfortable truth: real leadership development is hard, messy, and brutally exposing.
Here are the ten biggest lies companies tell themselves—and why believing them will hold you back:

1. "We’re Building a Leadership Pipeline"

You’re not.
You’re running an annual training program and hoping the high performers stick around.
Hope isn’t a strategy.

2. "Our Leaders Know How to Lead"

Knowing how to hit a number doesn’t mean you know how to lead people, drive enterprise thinking, or scale a business.
Leadership isn’t instinct—it’s built.

3. "Leadership Skills Are Common Sense"

No. They’re not.
Empathy, influence, adaptability, conflict management—these are hard-won, practiced skills.
Assuming people just “get it” is leadership malpractice.

4. "We Promote the Best Leaders"

You promote the best performers.
Or the loudest voices.
Leadership and individual performance are not the same thing—and confusing them is why your culture is stuck.

5. "Training Equals Development"

A two-day course doesn’t transform a leader.
If there’s no real-world application, no coaching, and no accountability for behavior change, it’s entertainment.

6. "Leadership Development Is HR’s Job"

Leadership development is the executive team's job—full stop.
If your top leaders aren’t visibly owning and modeling leadership development, don’t expect anyone else to care either.

7. "Our Culture Supports Leadership Growth"

If your leaders can't challenge upward, admit mistakes, or drive real change without political fallout, you don’t have a growth culture.
You have a survival culture—and survival cultures kill leadership potential.

8. "We Know Who Our Future Leaders Are"

Labels like “high potential” are a dangerous illusion.
Real leadership shows up in action, not in succession plans written in comfortable boardrooms.
You probably have future stars you’re ignoring—and current “stars” who will fail when it matters.

9. "Leadership Takes Care of Itself Over Time"

Leadership decay happens faster than leadership growth.
If you’re not actively building, you’re actively eroding.
There is no neutral in leadership development.

10. "We’re Doing Enough"

You're not.
The companies winning today—and tomorrow—are the ones treating leadership development like a critical business lever, not a “nice to have.”
If you think you’re doing enough, you’re already behind.

Bottom line:

The real danger isn’t that companies tell these lies—it’s that they believe them.
And the longer they believe them, the further they fall behind the companies brave enough to face the truth.

So, which side are you on?
The comfortable storytellers—or the companies building leaders who can win?