LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: THE FAILURE OF AN INDUSTRY AND THE OPPORTUNITY FOR CONSULTING PSYCHOLOGISTS

Leadership training and development is big business; in the United States alone, it has doubled over the past 15 years to become a $14 billion industry. Consulting psychologists have benefited greatly from this explosive growth. Nonetheless, citizens around the world lack confidence in public and private sector leaders, and organizations are worried that they do not have enough good leaders. We discuss two fundamental problems contributing to the apparent failure of the leadership industry and explain how the field of consulting psychology is positioned to address them. There is a significant opportunity for consulting psychologists to steer the leadership industry in a more constructive direction—if they have the courage to do so.