Episode 23: Why some leaders fear growth—and how to change that
Published on 11 March 2025 • Hosted by Dr Lisa Colledge
Why do some leaders actively resist growth?
Leadership development is proven to drive business success. Yet, many leaders—especially those who climbed the corporate ladder in more traditional environments—can seem uninterested or even hostile to change.
In this episode of Culture by Neurodesign, I share an insightful discussion with Jaime Gennaro, a leadership coach who has seen this dynamic play out time and time again. We explored some of the biggest reasons why leaders resist growth and, more importantly, what organizations can do to break through this mindset.
Reasons for resistance
1. The ego barrier: “I don’t need help”
Many leaders equate asking for help with weakness. They have been conditioned to believe that a strong leader always has the answers, rather than being someone who encourages collaboration, and succeeding as a team. This resistance to coaching or new leadership approaches comes from fear—fear of appearing incompetent, losing authority, or having their expertise questioned.
2. The profit-first mentality
Some leaders still operate under an outdated model where people development is seen as an expense, not an investment. They focus on short-term profits instead of longer-term team success. However, research consistently shows that engaged teams lead to higher productivity, lower turnover, and stronger business outcomes.
3. The gender and inclusion gap
Jaime and I also touched on a critical observation: women leaders tend to engage more with leadership development. While this is a generalization, it highlights a potential competitive advantage—women leaders may be more willing to embrace new strategies that prioritize teamwork and engagement.
How to help leaders overcome resistance
If you’re struggling with outdated models of growing and developing your team, consider these approaches:
Start small and show results: experiment with minor changes before scaling up.
Make it about impact, not ego: see your development as a leader as a way to achieve business success, not as a personal critique.
Use metrics to prove the ROI: show how your engaged team lead to measurable improvements in performance and retention.
When you consider that 8 out of 10 employees globally are disengaged, it’s easy to see how ensuring that your leadership style optimizes your team’s engagement with each other, and with your mission, is a real competitive leadership advantage.
Jaime’s website is available here.
Read more about the benefits of engaging your team more closely with your mission: Let’s get engaged – right now!
I'm Lisa, and I take inspiration from neurodivergence-inclusion to help leaders create cognitively inclusive cultures that connect people with different cognitive styles, empowering everyone to contribute their best.
If you'd like to learn more about how prioritizing this single program would help you to boost not only engagement and wellbeing, but also innovation and resilience, please take a look at my free signature program: Neuro-Inspired: 12 Steps to a Future-Proof Workplace Culture.
