As training consultants, we routinely help businesses in Malaysia diagnose issues with their talent, and leadership gaps at every level of an organisation are all too common.
When we bring this up to stakeholders, a frequent (and painful) rebuttal is:
“We can’t have leadership issues–we sent our staff for leadership training last year!”
Almost inevitably, the ‘leadership training’ was a one-day course chosen without thought and disconnected from any talent development roadmap.
Look, leadership challenges arise for many reasons, but one of the biggest culprits we see is the over-reliance on short leadership training courses.
Short programmes have their place, but as the icing on top of a long-term development cake.
Why long-term leadership development is key
It’s generally agreed that someone who’s been with a company for decades understands its DNA, culture, and operations far better than an external hire with similar credentials.
On top of that–or perhaps because of it–they are also more likely to get buy-in from internal stakeholders, making them simply better positioned to hold leadership positions.
No organisation is getting to this point without a long-term leadership development programme.
Ram Charan’s Leadership Pipeline framework reminds us that leadership is not a single promotion or skill, but a series of passages.
At each passage, a leader must change how they think and what they value in work.
For example:
- learning to delegate when going from individual contributor to manager
- letting go of being the technical expert as they go from managing managers to functional leader
- shaping vision, culture, and long-term strategy at the enterprise leader level
These transitions require deliberate practice, ongoing feedback, and structured exposure that only long-term programmes provide.
How to best-utilise short leadership courses
Let’s start with a quick look at how short courses and long-term programmes generally compare.
| Aspect | Short courses | Long-term programme |
| Duration | 1–3 days | 6 months to several years |
| Focus | Narrow, skill-specific | Broad, multi-stage growth |
| Types of programmes | One-off workshops, lectures, simulations | Continuous learning, coaching, mentoring, projects |
| Depth of impact | Surface-level awareness, immediate tips | Deep behavioural change and mindset shift |
| Integration | Often stand-alone but can be connected | Embedded in succession planning and talent strategy |
| Feedback & follow-up | Minimal | Ongoing feedback, assessments, and progress reviews |
| Best for | Quick refreshers or specific skills | Building a strong leadership bench and culture alignment |
| Limitations | Knowledge fade, lower transfer to workplace | Requires more resources, time, and commitment |
Once there is a dependable long-term development plan in place, short leadership courses can be highly effective used in the right context.
Four situations where they add real value are:
- Urgent interventions: Fill in gaps that jeopardise the continuity of the long-term plan.
- Hard skills: Teach specific skills like digital fluency or AI integration in the workplace.
- Refreshers: Reinforce or update existing knowledge to ensure it remains current.
- Low-risk gateways: Identify talents to commit to longer, more intensive programmes.
Final thoughts
Based on HRDC’s annual report, just under RM2 billion in employer claims were paid out in 2024, and we think it’s fair to assume some of it went to leadership programmes.
So companies are willing to spend on leadership training–great!
But for those who don’t yet have a long-term development programme, sending your talent for randomly chosen short courses does little to turn them into effective leaders.
And if you start sending them for deliberately chosen short courses, guess what? You’ve created a long-term leadership development plan.
In which case, you might as well speak to us and do it properly!
Tailored leadership programmes with D Jungle People
D Jungle People doesn’t have hundreds of trainers, just a handful of passionate experts who are dedicated to tailoring every session to align with your team’s needs.
Get in touch today to explore custom corporate training solutions that deliver impact–and yes, we are HRDC Claimable!
