Leadership Academies
Anchoring a corporate academy curriculum in behaviors — not topics.
A conglomerate had built an internal leadership academy. Faculty was strong. Attendance was mandatory. Participants said the sessions were interesting. And nothing in the business felt different.
The situation
A serious investment in leadership development, well delivered, with no line of sight to changed behavior back on the floor.
The question we set out to answer
“What behaviors would a leader of this business need to practice for the academy to have moved anything — and does the current curriculum ever ask them to?”
How the work was done
- 01
Assessed the last two cohorts with Penta Personality and the Leadership Assessment.
- 02
Named six behaviors that, if practiced, would matter most to how this business actually runs.
- 03
Rewrote the curriculum modules around those behaviors — some topics survived, some quietly retired.
- 04
Added a 30/60/90 practice frame every participant took back to their team.
What changed
Business-side sponsors, previously skeptical, started asking to send more of their people. Line managers started noticing which of their reports had been through the academy — because they behaved differently.
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Curriculum module count reduced by a third — depth replaced breadth.
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Practice frames re-used in team meetings, not left in a workbook.
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The academy went from a cost line to a talent multiplier.
The principle behind the case
“A leadership academy that teaches leadership is not enough. A leadership academy that changes leadership behavior — that is the point.”