Learning to Leader
It is completely unthinkable that someone would hire a Data Engineer who had no skills in Python, Java, or SQL. How could they possibly fulfil the demands of the role without foundational capabilities? We view these as concrete skills requiring instruction, practice, and continuous development, and rightfully so.
So why, then, when someone is promoted to a leadership position, is the approach entirely different? The expectation is often that because someone was a high-performing technical expert or excelled in an individual contributor role, they will naturally know how to lead people. Or that they will have acquired leadership capabilities simply by being managed and led throughout their career, as if by osmosis.
The reality in many organisations is a distinct lack of formal leadership training. Research from the CMI and YouGov found that 82% of UK managers entered management without any formal training. We give people responsibility for a team’s performance, motivation, and development, then expect them to work out how to lead on the job. It is the equivalent of handing over the keys to a car to someone who has never had a driving lesson.
Essentially, we treat leadership as an inherent trait rather than a proficiency that must be taught, practised, and refined.
This gap in capability carries direct commercial implications. Gallup reports that management training can improve manager performance measures by 20–28%, while its broader research links high employee engagement to 23% higher profitability. These findings do not guarantee a fixed return from every leadership programme, but they make a compelling case for treating leadership development as a direct investment in business performance.
The Bywater Insight
The shift required is moving away from the assumption that leadership is merely an extension of technical competence. It is not. Leadership is a distinct discipline. When we fail to train for it, we create conditions of stress and uncertainty for both the new leader and their team. The pressure to "just do" overrides the necessity of "better thinking."
By treating leadership as a structured proficiency, we change the environment. We move from hoping for good leadership to actively creating the conditions where clear thinking, trust, and healthy challenge can thrive. We need to stop rewarding people for simply surviving the transition and start equipping them to succeed in it.
Practical Application
To begin treating leadership as a core competency within your organisation, consider these steps:
Define the Proficiencies: Move beyond vague notions of "good leadership." Clearly articulate the specific behaviours and skills required at different levels of management within your organisation. What does creating clarity look like in your context? How do you measure the ability to foster healthy challenge?
Implement Foundational Training: Ensure that promotion to a management role is accompanied by mandatory, high-quality training that focuses on the human elements of the job: providing effective feedback, coaching, managing conflict, and prioritising wellbeing.
Establish Communities of Practice: Create forums where leaders can discuss the realities of their roles without judgement. Sustained progress requires ongoing support, not just a one-off course. Encourage peer coaching and the sharing of practical, evidence-informed solutions to common management challenges.
Evaluate on Leadership, Not Just Output: When assessing performance, place equal weight on how a leader achieves their results as you do on what they achieve. Are they building a capable, resilient team, or are they burning people out to meet targets?
The "Better Thinking" Question
How clearly defined are the leadership proficiencies required to create the right conditions for your teams, and how are those expectations communicated to new managers?
Working with Bywater
Developing genuine leadership capability requires more than off-the-shelf training modules; it requires deliberate environment design.
At Bywater, we partner with senior executives and leadership teams to move beyond accidental management. We help organisations define clear, context-specific leadership proficiencies, establish structured support for leaders in transition, and build the conditions—clarity, trust, and healthy challenge—where sustained performance can take root.
If you are looking to review how leadership capability is structured and supported within your organisation, get in touch with David Anderson to begin a conversation.