Leadership 'development' from workshops is useful for concepts, but real leadership 'transformation' happens when applying learning to solve immediate, real-world problems. The best learning is not linear; it's situational and sticks because it's tied to an urgent need.
Leaders often feel pressured to act, creating 'motion' simply to feel productive. True 'momentum,' however, is built by first stepping back to identify the *right* first step. This ensures energy is directed towards focused progress on core challenges, not just scattered activity.
The instinctive reaction to overwhelming growth is to accelerate work, which often leads to addressing symptoms instead of root causes. The more effective first step is to pause, step off the 'treadmill,' and gain clarity on the actual challenge before taking any action.
Business growth strategist Pat Alacqua outlines a 5-phase journey from startup to enterprise. Leaders often fail to advance because the skills that created success in one phase (e.g., 'hustle') become a liability in the next (e.g., 'systems'). Personal transformation must precede business transformation.