What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you see what others see? Or do you only see what you want to see? Answer that question honestly. Most of us only want to see what we think we see. Why? Because it can sometimes be painful to truly see what others see.

Not too long ago my 12 year old son decided that he would go out and practice basketball a lot more. I watched him for a little while. He would shoot and he would dribble a little. There wasn’t much effort in what he was doing. He did whatever was comfortable, whatever he enjoyed the most. After awhile I went out and gave him a little coaching.

Isn’t that how leadership development is for the most part? We spend a lot of time and money only to find that most of what we learn is the same stuff, it’s always been right there in front of us, we just never took the time to apply it? I mean let’s face it; most of this stuff is common sense, right?

Managers, companies and trainers continue to deliver training and send employees to workshops without an important concept in mind – accountability. Without it leadership development is stupid.