Although the executive education debate still rages on whether leadership is learned or innate, there is no doubt that the subject is being taught.
In October 2003, BusinessWeek reported that 134 companies from 20 nations spent $210 million to enroll 21,000 employees in executive leadership programs. Since leadership development is not an event, that's a significant investment in classroom activities that may or may not produce company leaders or even better managers.
Beginning in October 2005, the University of Michigan Executive Education Program (rated third by BusinessWeek in open enrollment behind Harvard and Pennsylvania's Wharton programs) is offering a 3-day "Becoming an Exceptional Coach" for $4,350. Compare the cost and effectiveness of this classroom training with six-months of weekly personal executive coaching for $6,000; to create a positive leadership mindset and a positive work environment.
A survey of 3,000 leaders and associates in 117 organizations reports that 63% plan to increase spending on leadership development programs that 75% of HR executives surveyed don't give a high quality rating to.
The paradox of spending more on what's not working is due to leadership development being seen as a classroom event. Yet, you don't fix people by sending them off to training. Managers need ongoing coaching to get in the habit of being good leaders.
The survey reported that two-thirds of the respondents said leaders at their company exhibited at least one potentially fatal flaw or "derailer"--a personality attribute that interferes with leadership effectiveness. Derailers are more personality-oriented than skill-based and are more difficult to change than teaching someone a new skill.
For all the money spent on them, we still don't know if executive leadership programs work.