After serving in the military, I spent the next 30 years developing and assessing some of the most senior leaders in global business. Over and over again, I saw a pattern: leaders caught in the familiar cycle of too much to do, too little time.

You’ve probably experienced it—whether you’re a frontline manager or a CEO.

Around 12 years ago, I decided to get to the root of the problem. With operational military experience and strategic leadership roles including Global Head of Leadership at UBS and leading transformation planning for the London Underground’s Public-Private Partnership, I had the perspective to look deeper.

What I discovered was staggering.

This “not enough time” problem is not the real issue—it’s merely a symptom. The real issue is far more widespread and is silently undermining up to 85% of organisations and leaders. Chances are, it’s affecting your organisation too, whether you know it or not.

The Cost of This Hidden Problem:

• Individual performance down by up to 30%
• Employee engagement stuck below 20%
• Organisational performance underdelivering by 23%
• Profits falling short by 10% or more

And it doesn’t have to be this way.

Why is this happening? Because, in my view, leadership development is fundamentally broken. Despite billions invested over decades, we’re not equipping leaders with the deep, practical knowledge they need to lead effectively.

The numbers back this up. According to the Chartered Management Institute, 82% of leaders haven’t received the training they need. This issue spans sectors, geographies, and company sizes—from startups to global corporates. It’s costing businesses and economies billions each year.

What’s missing is in-depth knowledge in three core leadership areas:

• Delivering tasks effectively
• Bringing out the best in people
• Aligning that effort to strategic goals

Many leaders believe they’re already doing this. And they are—but not to the level that unlocks true performance. They’re getting by, not excelling. But with the right knowledge, this can change—quickly and at little or no cost.

When leaders are equipped with this knowledge:

• “Business as usual” moves to a level of everyday excellence
• Engagement rises, with up to 30% more effort from 60% of employees
• Organisations can see a 10% uplift in the bottom line

And beyond that, it gives leaders the space to move from reactive management to proactive, entrepreneurial leadership—spotting opportunity and shaping the future.

Let me give you one simple example: delegation. I often ask audiences, “Have you ever been trained how to delegate effectively?” In 10 years of asking, over 70% of leaders say no. And studies support this.

But what’s the cost? In a four-minute exercise during my talks, leaders regularly discover they could save half a day per week, with 15–20% finding 8 hours or more of lost time.

The truth is, this problem has been damaging leadership for over 25 years. Employee engagement has barely moved. Delegation skills have hardly improved. And yet, we continue to spend heavily on leadership development—with too little to show for it.

It’s time to change that.

Every day this issue is ignored is a day of lost performance, lost talent, and lost profit.

The good news? Leaders can start turning this around in just 90 minutes. One session is enough to begin unlocking hidden performance. As Thierry Garnier, CEO of Kingfisher Group, said after attending:

“I found what you said really interesting, so I took notes to see what action I can take.”

Yes, it works.

We owe it to our people, our investors, and our communities to fix this—and fix it now.

About the author – Chris Roebuck:

Chris has been a leader in the military, business and government holding senior HR roles in UBS, HSBC, KPMG & London Underground and worked with law firms, the UK NHS, construction and other sectors.

During his time as Global Head of Leadership at UBS the strategic transformation implemented became a Harvard Case Study on best practice and won UBS Best  Company for Leaders and numerous business awards.

Profits increased by 235% with a 5% head count reduction. Chris is also Hon Visiting Professor of Transformational Leadership at Cass Business School.