A Familiar Scene: Learning Without Urgency…Until It Matters
As passengers settle into their seats, the flight attendants begin the pre-flight safety briefing.
They demonstrate how to fasten a seatbelt.
They explain the location of emergency exits.
They walk through the use of oxygen masks.
The information is clear, structured, and potentially lifesaving. Yet across the cabin, a different reality unfolds. Passengers scroll through their phones. Laptops remain open, headphones go on and some folks are clearly napping. Most are not engaged.
The assumption is quiet but universal:
“I’ve flown before.” “I’ll never need this.”
Then, mid-flight, something changes.
Severe turbulence, a sudden loss of cabin pressure.
Oxygen masks deploy. In an instant, attention sharpens.
Passengers who were previously disengaged are now:
- Looking around for cues
- Trying to recall instructions
- Seeking reassurance from others
- Attempting to act on information they never fully absorbed
Now the learning matters. Now the focus is real. But now, they are operating under stress, uncertainty, and without practice. You are seeing interference in action!
Understanding Interference in Leadership Development
Interference is anything that disrupts, distracts, or prevents a leader from learning, internalizing, building mastery or consistently applying effective leadership behaviors.
It is the gap between:
- Exposure and execution
- Knowing and doing
And in many organizations, interference is everywhere.
Organizations continue to promote and invest heavily in leadership development, particularly in the area of “soft skills” communication, empathy, coaching, trust-building, and emotional intelligence.
Yet despite this investment, many leaders still struggle to consistently demonstrate mastery of these behaviors. The issue is not a lack of awareness, it is not even a lack of capability, I believe they are not paying attention to the issue of interference, which exists both:
- Within the organization (systems, structures, expectations)
- Within the leader (habits, motivation, attention)
And until we name it, we cannot address it.
Sources of Interference
Source 1: Organizational Trust-Diminishing Interference
One of the most powerful forms of interference occurs when organizations require leaders to operate in ways that undermine employee trust.
Leaders are told to be empathetic, build relationships, create psychological safety. But are expected to enforce decisions that feel misaligned or unfair such as
- Prioritize speed and output over people
- Deliver messages they may not fully agree with
This creates a fracture. Leaders cannot consistently demonstrate integrity and empathy in systems that contradict those very behaviors. I realize it goes deeper at times, but when employees for example are told there will be no layoffs and two weeks later a massive layoff occurs and the direct manager knew this was coming but not allowed to share the information. The results for employees, especially for the survivor form a healthy level of mistrust and disengagement. Leaders appear inauthentic, not because they are, but because the system interferes with their ability to lead authentically and share difficult information while using a key skill of influencing teams during tough times.
Source 2: Cost-Driven Interference in Skill Development
Developing real leadership capability requires time, practice, coaching and reinforcement of theory. However, many organizations reduce leadership development to:
- One-time workshops
- Low-cost, scalable solutions
- Minimal or no follow-up
This creates a gap between “exposure to concepts and mastery of behavior.” When cost becomes the primary driver, development becomes transactional, not transformational. Leaders leave with knowledge, but without the repetition required to build skill mastery.
Source 3: Delivery Method Interference
Leadership is not learned passively; it is developed experientially. Yet many organizations rely heavily on:
- Self-paced modules where organizations require already busy and overwhelmed leaders to add learning to their plate in their spare (personal) time
- Lecture-based sessions
- Content-heavy programs
These methods fail to account for a critical reality, leaders must be able to apply these skills in real time, under real or heavy simulated pressure. Without practice, feedback and reflection, learning does not transfer into mastery of behavior, I am just sayin.
Source 4: Capability Interference (Lack of Skilled Facilitators)
Not all leadership development is created equal. True development requires professionals who understand leadership psychology, behavioral change and adult learning theory and principles. Not professional checking the box on a professional rotation.
When organizations rely on:
- Generic content (adding your company name to generic content, does not make it custom content).
- Underprepared facilitators
- “Check-the-box” programming
They dilute the very skills they are trying to build but still holding leaders accountable for these skills. You cannot develop deep leadership capability through shallow cost cutting delivery techniques.
Source 5: Digital Overload & Multitasking Interference
The rise of online learning has created access, but also distraction.
Leaders often attend virtual lunch and learn sessions while staying off camera to answer emails or do other work. Multitasking during critical learning moments is a large distraction. Years ago, while working at Pfizer we discovered that effective multitasking does not exist. During these learning events leaders treat development as background noise.
In these environments, learning competes with work urgency. And urgency almost always wins. The result is partial attention, which leads to partial learning, and ultimately, no meaningful behavior change. Much like on the airplane.
Source 6: Compliance (“Check-the-Box”) Interference
Many leaders participate in development not because they are committed to growth, but because, it is required, assigned or expected. This creates a compliance mindset rather than a development mindset, big mistake!
When leaders ask, “What do I need to complete?” instead of “What do I need to learn to be more effective?” When development becomes a requirement instead of a commitment, interference is inevitable.
Source 7: Timing & Relevance Interference
Another subtle but powerful form of interference is disinterest until necessity. Much like on the airplane. Leaders often delay engagement with critical skills, such as, coaching, giving and receiving feedback or development of good emotional IQ. One of the worst phrases to hit corporate America is “bitesize learning.” That quick AI article on the “how to” of a topic. Leaders believe they are smart enough that all they need is the high-level concepts to be effective in the moment. Building leadership skills is not like asking Google how to change the tire on your car. Unfortunately, until the skill is urgently needed it gets put on the back burner. However, at that time leaders are operating with higher stakes on the table, under real pressure, with underdeveloped skill sets.
This leads to default behaviors:
- Control or micromanagement instead of coaching
- Reaction instead of reflection
- Directive leadership instead of developmental leadership
Source 8: Foundational Skill Interference
When leaders fail to build foundational leadership habits early, it creates long-term interference.
Skills such as, coaching, listening, delegating, developing others and influence…are not advanced capabilities, they are baseline leadership expectations. Yet many leaders never fully develop them.
As highlighted in the work of Dr. Jeff Doolittle, leadership effectiveness is rooted in consistent habits and behaviors, not occasional performance.
Without these foundational habits, advanced leadership concepts cannot take hold and teams do not experience consistency and trust remains fragile.
Organizational Considerations: Identifying Interference is the First Step to Eliminating It
Leadership development does not fail because leaders are incapable. It fails because interference is left unaddressed. If organizations are serious about building leaders who:
- Lead with integrity
- Demonstrate empathy
- Build trust
- Understand how to influence engagement
- Coach and develop others
Then they must move beyond delivering content and begin removing interference. Because at the end of the day, the greatest barrier to effective leadership is not knowing what to do, it is everything that gets in the way of actually doing it.
Schedule your “Lunch and Learn” workshop today (269 207-7373) to learn how to remove Interference from your organization.
About Dr. Ollie G. Barnes III
Dr. Ollie G. Barnes III is an organizational performance consultant, keynote speaker, and author of Diagnosing Toxic Leadership: Understanding the Connection Between Personality Disorders and Toxic Leader Behaviors. As the founder of Impact Performance Consultants, he brings over 25 years of experience helping organizations transform workplace culture, improve leadership effectiveness, and build psychologically safe environments. Learn more at ImpactPerformanceConsultants.com