Does Leadership Development Improve Leadership?

The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- I am asking you. No doubt, sometime in the past you attended a seminar where you received a nugget of wisdom that you still use. But let's be more practical. Think about last summer's executive leadership retreat. Did it work? Probably not. Here's why.

People underestimate the complexity of leadership. Proficiency in a complex skill requires a lifetime of learning. Leadership is a complex skill.

A few years ago, a Harvard Business Review advertisement mocked the "One Minute Manager." The ad asked, "Who's ever heard of the 'One Minute Trial Lawyer' or the 'One Minute Orthopedic Surgeon?' I think we've been insulted." The ad rightly suggested that most people have little appreciation for the complexity of leadership.

I recently watched a biography of the music team Simon and Garfunkel. The two were songwriters with a desire to broadcast their political beliefs through music. On the video, a reporter asked the young Paul Simon if he had political ambitions. Simon replied that he would like to be president, but he did not "have enough time." "But," he said with conviction, "I'd be a good president."

A 2007 Opinion Dynamics poll found that four in 10 Americans believed that Hillary Clinton was qualified to be President of United States, arguably the world's biggest and most complex CEO job. Yet, she had no management experience besides part-ownership of a small law firm in Arkansas and as the leader of an aborted health care initiative. People reasoned that she was qualified because she had been married to a president. I wonder if Steve Jobs' wife is the Board's choice to replace him as Chairman.

What makes management complex? There are so many variables to consider when leading an organization. When I was in graduate school, a friend of mine was finishing his residency in emergency medicine. After 14 years of medical training, Kurt was now a physician. I said, "Kurt, tomorrow you will be a real doctor with no one to help you. Are you nervous?" Mildly insulted, he lowered his eyebrows and said, "I know what to do!"

A year later, I started my job with a management consulting firm in Chicago. Fred Crandall, a former national practice director in organization effectiveness for Coopers and Lybrand, was the partner on my first project. With great admiration I said, "Fred, I look forward to the day when, like you, I can go to a client and know what to do." Fred replied, "I never know what to do!"