How did the professionals on Strictly Come Dancing, the footballers at Euro 2012 or the athletes at the upcoming London Olympics get where they are? 

Effort will rank highly in any list of the important factors, which might also include talent, luck, training, connections, etc. These are people who have practised, probably literally ad nauseam in the case of some Olympic rowers.

So it is strange when a demand for focus, repetition and effort is received with surprise by some of the delegates we see on our leadership and management programs. 

Somehow the perception has grown that training in any of the ‘soft skills’ is only meant to be a distraction. People have become used to attending training that is interesting on the day, but makes no impact on their working lives. 

Who is responsible for this? A large chunk of the blame must fall at our door: the training industry has fostered this perception. Employing ‘associates’ on a daily rate, and working with HR departments who are frightened to demand that their executives actually do anything on training courses, those who are organising training focus on audience reaction via a summary sheet. 

As long as everyone had a good time and nobody was challenged, we can all breathe a sigh of relief and move on the next course. The result of the programme is that we passed the time pleasantly.

The real reward, and the overt purpose of training, is to grow skill – skill that enables the recipients of training to do their jobs more effectively, and their companies to achieve their strategic aims more quickly. You don’t grow skill without demand; a strict regime of lie-ins and daytime TV never delivered a gold medal. 

Which is why programmes like Strictly are such a good comparison. In the weeks between the shows, we are shown clips of celebrities pushing themselves to learn their routines, with their professional partners constantly praising, prompting, cajoling, and demanding that they build the skill they will need. Then on the Saturday night, they have to show their results: what did they apply, what can they do now that they couldn’t before? The satisfaction they feel is in direct proportion to the effort they put in during the week.

Here is something I never thought I would write: leadership training could learn something from Strictly – reintroduce demand to leadership development, and people really will develop leadership. 

Anything to get us away from the current norm, which is much more like Big Brother – lots of sitting around, some silly exercises, and a popularity contest at the end.

So what does a demanding, successful leadership development programme look like? Click here to find out