When Self-Development becomes Shelf Development
Whilst every leadership or culture programme I facilitate is different in some way or another, I realised I have started to coin the phrase ‘self-development becomes shelf development’.
Leadership development programs are often seen as vital opportunities for personal and professional growth. These sessions provide leaders with valuable skills, insights, and tools that can significantly impact their effectiveness, theeffectiveness of others, as well as impacting quality, safety and the bottom line. However, one of the most critical aspects of these programs is often overlooked: what happens after the session ends. Too often, self-development turns into "shelf development," where the lessons and skills learned are metaphorically placed on a shelf, de-prioritised, and never used. This failure to implement and act on new knowledge renders these training sessions far less effective than they could be.
Many leaders, even the most senior, attend workshops or seminars, leaving with positive intent, only to return to their daily routines with no clear plan for applying what they've learned. The enthusiasm and commitment I see in them during the session quickly fade as they become consumed by the demands of their day-to-day responsibilities. Emails, meetings, customer needs, and team issues all conspire against them, making it difficult to focus on integrating new skills into their leadership approach.
This is not just a missed opportunity for individual growth; it also represents a significant loss for the organisation. Companies invest substantial resources in these programs, expecting a return in the form of improved leadership and, ultimately, better business outcomes. When the lessons learned are not implemented, you’re left with very little.
But what can be done about it?
One of the primary reasons that self-development turns into shelf development is a lack of support from managers before, during, and after the training sessions. Managers play a crucial role in ensuring that the lessons learned in development programs are not only understood but also applied.
Before the Session: Preparation is key to a successful training experience. Managers should work with their team members to identify specific areas of focus for the training. What skills do they need to develop? What challenges are they facing that the training might help address? By setting clear expectations and goals before the session, managers can help ensure that the training is relevant and targeted to the individual's needs.
During the Session: It's not enough to simply attend a training session; employees need to be fully engaged to get the most out of it. Unfortunately, this is often easier said than done. Many employees are distracted by phone calls, emails, and other work responsibilities, even when they are supposed to be focusing on their development. Managers can help by ensuring that their team members have the time and space to focus solely on the training. This might mean arranging for someone else to cover their responsibilities or setting clear boundaries that work can wait until they return. You might be surprised by the number of managers who think they already do this, only to be the culprits to be making that ‘just one’ call to the attendee. This can derail their entire day, but worse, set the tone about where learning is truly rated as the priority of things.
After the Session: The period immediately following the training is the most critical for ensuring that new skills are put into practice. If there is no action plan in place within the first three days of returning to the office, the likelihood of the new knowledge being embedded is slim at best. I highly recommend a manager schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss what was learned during the session and how it can be applied to the individual's role. This meeting should result in a concrete action plan with specific steps that will be taken in the days and weeks ahead. The manager can provide the air cover, coaching, support and a nurturing environment for actions to be implemented, practised and embedded.
And here is when my “Three-Day Rule” comes into action.
The three-day rule is a simple yet powerful guideline for ensuring that learning is not lost. It states that if the delegates of a training program, or any off site learning experience, are not in action within three working days of being back at their desk, the learning is unlikely to be embedded. This is because the demands of daily work quickly take over, and without a plan to apply new knowledge, it gets forgotten or deprioritised.
To prevent this, it's essential to have an action plan that starts immediately. This plan should include specific tasks that the individual will undertake to apply what they've learned. For example, if a leader has learned new strategies for managing conflict, they might schedule a meeting with their team to discuss how they will implement these strategies moving forward. If they've learned about time management techniques, they might start by reorganising their schedule to reflect these new practices.
Even with a clear action plan, there are often barriers that prevent individuals from putting their new skills into practice. These barriers can include a lack of time, competing priorities, or a lack of support from colleagues or superiors. To overcome these challenges, it is important to anticipate them and plan accordingly. A trusted, supportive manager can really help an individual at this point, regardless of position within the company.
Leadership development programs have the potential to transform not only individual leaders but entire organisations. However, this potential is only realised when the lessons learned are actively implemented and integrated into daily practice. By supporting employees before, during, and after development programmes, managers can help ensure that self-development does not become shelf development.
The three-day rule serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of immediate action. Without it, even the most valuable insights can be lost and the value, time and budget invested never realised back into the day to day role. But with a clear action plan, prioritisation, accountability, and a commitment to continuous learning, leaders can turn their new knowledge into real-world results.