Why Manager Training Isn’t Enough: How to Shift Leadership Behavior Systematically
You’ve noticed managers aren’t consistently showing up the way you want them to, or maybe your employee engagement survey found that managers are slipping when it comes to things like decision-making or career conversations. When this happens, most companies start with manager training when they want to “fix” leadership issues. And while skills-building is important, it’s not the first move we recommend.
If you want to shift leadership behavior across your organization, at scale, we recommend looking at the system. Otherwise, your people managers are going to just go back to the way they’ve always done things. Even managers with the best of intentions will do what’s easy or what they’re used to doing, when things get busy or difficult. You need a system in place before training.
Start with Expectations
In our blog article How to Define Leadership Expectations That Stick, we talk about the power of setting clear leadership expectations. Not vague platitudes like “be a team player,” but specific, observable behaviors that align with your company’s strategy and values. When leaders know exactly what’s expected of them and why, you create the conditions for clarity, trust, and performance.
Then, Build in Accountability
In the article Build the Bridge: How to Make Leadership Accountability Real, we cover how to back those expectations with real accountability mechanisms. This includes how you hire, promote, review, and recognize your leaders. Without this step, even the clearest expectations can fade into the background. People will take cues from what’s actually rewarded and reinforced. Building accountability mechanisms – things like feedback and recognition - is usually the main issue when it comes to sustainable behavior change.
Now Bring in Training
Once expectations and accountability systems are in place, then we want to support managers in building skills through learning programs.. This is when training can become truly transformative.
Because now, your training has a purpose. You're not just teaching generic management skills, you’re developing leaders to succeed in the behaviors your organization has said matter most. You’re showing them what good looks like and giving them the tools to get there.
Training works best when:
It’s tied to specific leadership expectations.
It’s supported by real-world feedback and reinforcement from the system and from their own managers
It’s delivered alongside coaching, reflection, and peer support.
In other words, manager development should be the third step, not the first.
Make the Change Stick
This approach takes more upfront work but it will pay off. When you connect expectations, accountability, and training in a coherent system, leadership development stops feeling like a box to check and starts becoming a cultural shift.
It’s how you build standards and consistency across teams. It’s how you elevate performance without burning people out. And it’s how you grow leaders sustainably.
Ready to go beyond manager training? Regroup helps companies build leadership systems that work from expectations to accountability to development. Let’s talk!
