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Release Date: June 6

Are your leadership programs creating better leaders or just checking boxes?  

In this illuminating episode of The Learnit Lounge podcast, host Mickey Fitch-Collins sits down with �鶹������ýs Anderson from Ball Horticultural  to tackle the uncomfortable truth about why many leadership development initiatives fail to deliver real results. Discover how to move beyond rigid frameworks and create space for leaders to experiment, make mistakes, and truly grow in the flow of their daily work.

This Learnit Lounge conversation explores why traditional training approaches often miss the mark when applied to leadership development and offers practical insights on crafting programs that create meaningful transformation rather than just ticking administrative boxes. �鶹������ýs shares his philosophy of "shaking the box" to create productive discomfort that enables real learning and challenges L&D professionals to focus less on metrics and more on creating the conditions where leadership can naturally emerge.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why leadership development differs fundamentally from skills training and requires space for experimentation
• How focusing too much on frameworks and models can overshadow the actual leadership growth
• The danger of leadership programs becoming self-sustaining administrative processes rather than tools for transformation
• How to avoid the trap of giving answers instead of empowering leaders to find their own solutions
• The myth that we fully understand leadership development despite centuries of human leadership experience

In This Episode:

• 00:00 – �鶹������ýlcome to the Lounge: Mickey introduces �鶹������ýs Anderson and tees up the conversation on building leadership programs that actually work
• 01:57 – “Shaking the box”: Why discomfort is a prerequisite for real learning
• 03:54 – Is leadership development a myth?  
• 06:30 – The ROI trap: Why measurable outcomes don’t always mean meaningful impact
• 08:00 – Conferences vs. real life: Learning in context vs. learning in isolation
• 09:30 – Tolerance, deviation, and jammed gears
• 11:00 – Why real leadership development requires room for mistakes
• 13:00 – Budgeting for leadership: Defects, downtime, and uncomfortable learning curves
• 14:30 – Human margin of error
• 15:30 – Models are tools, not destinations: The danger of falling in love with frameworks
• 17:00 – People vs. process: Why all leadership is ultimately human
• 18:00 – Four cardinal truths of good leadership development
• 22:45 – “Check the box” syndrome: How structure can undermine substance
• 24:15 – When programs run on autopilot: Are you leading—or just administering?
• 26:50 – Pressure reveals leadership
• 27:30 – Most significant leadership lesson: Don’t give answers—give breadcrumbs
• 30:25 – The uncomfortable truth: �鶹������ý still don’t really know how to “develop” leaders
• 31:45 – Final takeaway #1: Create space for failure—because that’s where leaders grow
• 32:10 – Final takeaway #2: Embrace new ideas as tools—not solutions
• 33:15 – How to connect with �鶹������ýs: Continue the conversation on LinkedIn
  

About �鶹������ýs:

�鶹������ýs Anderson leads professional and leadership development at Ball Horticultural Company in �鶹������ýst Chicago, Illinois. With a diverse background spanning private industry and military service, he brings a unique operational perspective to learning and development. His approach centers on "shaking the box" to encourage new perspectives while creating space for experimentation and growth. A graduate from Northern Illinois University College of Law and University of Illinois alumnus, �鶹������ýs has built his career through roles at Flex, Motorola Solutions, and General Mills.  

Resources Referenced:

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