Every year, millions of pounds are invested in leadership programs. But there’s an uncomfortable question we need to ask ourselves: are those investments really paying off? Many of us have seen or experienced powerful shifts through leadership development, yet we often lack the meaningful data needed to show others the true impact.

Without such data, it’s hard to show that investments made in Leadership Development are worthwhile.

Ever completed an engagement survey that left you feeling… disengaged?

Or filled out a wellbeing questionnaire that didn’t reflect your reality, or give you the space to explain it?

Maybe you took time to share thoughtful feedback, only to hear nothing back about how, or even if, it was used.

Or worse, you final results were shared from a survey and you thought, “This doesn’t sound like us at all.”

It happens more often than it should. And when it does, it doesn’t just waste time, it erodes trust.

Leadership development is full of good intentions, but not always easy answers As someone who works at the intersection of coaching, research and organisational change, I’m often asked: “How do we know if it’s working?”The honest answer? It depends. And that’s not a cop-out, it’s a starting point that opens the door to real learning. Because once we stop looking for simple proof, we can start asking better questions – and that’s where the real transformation begins.

In today’s climate of tightened budgets and increased scrutiny, coaching and leadership development programs are too often dismissed as a ‘nice to have’. But we know their potential to drive lasting, meaningful change, not just in individuals, but across entire organisations. The challenge? Evidencing it. In this article, I explore how organisations can move beyond traditional feedback mechanisms to build collaborative, long-term evaluation strategies that demonstrate real impact, for funders, stakeholders, and most importantly, the people they aim to support.

I’ve spent my career navigating two very different ways of understanding human change. One prioritises rigour and generalisability; the other, personal meaning and context. In this piece, I reflect on what it might mean to hold the tension between two very different approaches in applied psychology.

Coaching is a fast growing industry and more and more people are looking to work with a coach. There are lots of coaches out there, so how do you choose who might be the right one for you? Here’s some info about me and they way I coach, to help you to decide if we might be a good fit.