How to Pick Which Managers to Develop First for Real ROI

Most leadership budgets are tighter than they used to be, and that forces a decision many organisations keep avoiding.

Stop putting everyone through a programme. Start investing in the few who will move the business.

Leadership programmes don't fail because the content is wrong. They fail because the wrong people get put on them.

Here is the selection method I use when teams want outcomes. Two filters.

The 2 filters that matter

Filter 1: Impact

Can this person materially improve business performance in the next 90 days?

Impact means their role touches real outcomes:

• delivery, customers, risk, revenue, quality
• a critical team
• a messy interface between functions
• a high-cost bottleneck (meetings, rework, decision delays, escalation)

Quick test: If this leader gets better, does the business feel it quickly? If yes, they're in the frame.

Filter 2: Coachability

Are they willing to change? Willing to do it, not just talk about it.

Coachability looks like:

• they take feedback without drama
• they try things between sessions
• they stop defending old habits
• they can admit what's not working
• they want responsibility, not comfort

Quick test: Do they apply, or do they attend? If they attend, don't waste the seat.

What happens when one filter is missing

This is where most organisations lose money on development spend.

High impact, low coachability

This is the "brilliant but stuck" leader. Big role, big influence, big potential upside.

But they:

• argue with the feedback
• blame the organisation
• don't practise
• don't change what they do week to week

You invest in them and nothing shifts. Worse, it sends a message that development is optional and accountability is negotiable.

Bottom line: impact without coachability is a high-cost gamble.

If you still want to back them, put conditions on the seat:

• clear outcomes in 90 days
• manager involvement
• expectation of application
• willingness to be coached

If they won't agree, don't put them in.

High coachability, low impact

This is the "keen learner" problem.

They show up, do the work, and are a joy to have in the room. But their role doesn't move the business.

So you get:

• great feedback scores
• personal growth stories
• very little organisational impact

This is a targeting mistake, not a reflection on the person.

Bottom line: coachability without impact gives you development, not ROI. Still worth doing at times, but be clear about the purpose. If the goal is performance improvement this quarter, this isn't your cohort.

Low impact, low coachability

Do not spend budget here. This is where sheep dip comes from.

Why being selective produces better returns

A lot of teams avoid targeting because they're worried about fairness. Fairness in a business means investing where it creates results and lifting the standard for everyone. It does not mean equal spend.

Target properly and you get a ripple effect:

• execution improves
• meetings reduce
• decisions speed up
• standards rise
• teams feel the difference

And then the business trusts the investment more, not less.

A simple way to run selection (without a big process)

If you want this to move fast, do this:

1. Ask each GM or functional lead for 1–2 nominations only
2. Make them answer two questions:
3. HR sanity-checks coachability in a short conversation
4. Confirm seats and start inside the quarter

That's how you avoid months of panels and politics.

What to run: two ready-to-roll options

If you want programmes that match this approach, here are two that are built for it.

The 6 Week Reset

For leaders who are buried in noise and need traction fast.

Designed to:

• cut meeting load
• reclaim time and capacity
• sharpen priorities
• install a simple execution rhythm

This is the right fit when the business is saying, "We need improvement now."

Amplify

For mid to senior leaders who need to lift from busy management into high-performing leadership.

Designed around:

• simplification in complex environments
• decision making and execution under pressure
• leading through others (so they stop being the bottleneck)
• implementation support so behaviour changes at work, not just in the room

Both are practical, commercially grounded, and built around application.

The final line

If you want leadership development to work, start with selection, not the programme.

Impact + Coachability. If either is missing, ROI collapses.

If you would like a simple 10 question nomination form template – send me an email and I'll get it to you.

To download an overview of Amplify and 6 week reset: Reply “RESET” or DM me.

---

If this sounds like your week

Your managers are not the problem. They are where the problem is stuck.

When your last leadership spend was signed off, did anyone go back to those managers' bosses and ask what changed? That question is the JBL Outcome Standard, and it is how I work.

• Find the friction. A short diagnostic that shows which decisions are stalling, and at what level.
• Am I the bottleneck? Ten questions on where your week is actually going.
• How I work with GMs. Six weeks, one hour a week, up to twelve of your managers, scored by their own bosses.
• Beat Burnout, Boost Performance. The book.
• The High Performance Leader podcast.

Managers I work with reclaim around four hours a week, and their bosses score the change 8.75 out of 10. Would it be a crazy idea to find out how we did this? Book a scoping call.