How to Develop Leadership Skills: A Research-Backed Framework for Managers

Leadership is a set of skills people can learn and practise. The useful question is how to develop them so the change lasts.

The evidence is encouraging. Lacerenza and colleagues' 2017 meta-analysis of 335 studies found leadership training improves learning, behaviour and results.

Three groups of skills

Leading yourself. Self-awareness, managing emotions under pressure, resilience and modelling what you expect from others.

Leading people. Communication, empathy, coaching, feedback, handling conflict and building trust.

Leading the work. Seeing the bigger picture, deciding under uncertainty and aligning work to priorities.

First-line managers often need people skills most. Senior leaders lean more on strategic skills. Most leaders benefit from all three.

Where development happens

The Centre for Creative Leadership's 70-20-10 rule of thumb says most growth comes from challenging work, then relationships, then formal courses. Treat the ratios as a rough guide.

Research supports the principle. DeRue and Wellman found leaders learn most from stretching assignments, though the benefit fades as challenge keeps rising. Access to feedback helped leaders keep learning under heavy challenge.

A five-step plan

1. Get an accurate picture. Use 360-degree feedback, a validated assessment or an honest conversation with a coach.

2. Pick two or three skills. Trying to develop everything at once spreads effort too thin.

3. Seek stretch on purpose. To build coaching, coach a junior colleague. To build strategic thinking, join a cross-functional project.

4. Get feedback and coaching. Smither and colleagues found improvements after multisource feedback were usually small. Gains were more likely when leaders set goals and took action.

5. Practise for months. Each week, reflect on one situation you handled well and one you would handle differently.

Designing a programme for others

For L&D teams, the same evidence points to a clear design:

• Start with a diagnostic. Base each development plan on 360-degree or capability data.
• Design for practice between sessions. End each session with one observable commitment and review it next time.
• Add coaching. A few sessions help managers turn ideas into new behaviour in their own context.
• Form peer groups. Groups of four to six meet monthly to share progress and hold each other to account.
• Measure behaviour change. Compare 360-degree feedback before the programme and three months after.

Lacerenza's review supports this design. Needs analysis, spaced sessions and practice with feedback all made programmes more effective.

Skills to prioritise now

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 names the core skills employers value most. They include analytical thinking, resilience and flexibility, and leadership and social influence.

McKinsey's State of Organizations 2026 adds a reason to build self-reflection. Reflective leaders were far more confident their organisations could adapt: 30% against 17%.

AI widens the brief. Leaders now help people take on the change, work well with AI agents and stay ready as change speeds up. Staying ready is Acceleration, one of the three conditions in our Human Advantage Programme.

Try this

Take the free Leadership Development Needs Profiler. Choose your two lowest areas and find one stretch assignment for each this quarter.