It’s the structure.

Most leadership training programs are designed for ease of operational delivery within an organization, not for habit formation. They are event-based trainings, meaning that the training takes place over a day or two.

In a traditional one-day or two-day long workshop, you’ll increase your knowledge. You’ll learn several key insights and be excited to implement the 5-10 new learnings into your leadership toolkit immediately. Inevitably, you won’t be able to put all of these new learnings into action.

After two or three weeks, you might remember the concept but not how to implement the idea, and you’ll be lucky if you retain even two of the ten key points from the session. According to a Mckinsey & Company survey, adults typically retain just 10% of what they hear in classroom lectures. Cramming all the key learnings into one lengthy training makes logistical sense, but it greatly restricts learning retention.

Leadership training is aimed at giving leaders new skills — at helping them change their behaviors to go from being a top individual contributor to a leader of people. As a leader, your success is dependent on the success of the people you’re leading. It’s quite a shift in perspective.

Simply learning what to do over the course of one to two days doesn’t lead to acting differently in the long run.

How habit formation works in our brains.

Habit formation doesn’t just happen. Our brains aren’t wired to adopt a new habit that quickly. No matter how good and engaging the presentation is, habit formation takes time. It occurs when a new action, like the leadership skill of listening with intention and attention, is practiced over and over.