Can’t find the right leaders? Train them in-house with a proven executive growth model

Leadership gaps are no longer just a talent problem; they are a business risk. Across industries, companies are grappling with the same issue: the pipeline of ready, relevant and resilient leaders seems to be slowing down. According to a 2023 Deloitte report, 89% of global organisations consider leadership development a top priority, yet less than 15% believe they have a strong bench of future-ready leaders.

1. SPJIMR's PGEMP participant Anuj Goel shares his experience.Copy link Can’t  nd the right leaders? Train them in-house with a proven
executive growth model
SPJIMR Marketing and Communications Dept.
Second, learning should happen
across industries and contexts. When
professionals from banking, IT,
manufacturing, pharma, and services
interact in a shared learning space, it
sparks new ways of thinking. Peer
learning becomes just as powerful as
classroom learning.Finally, great leadership development requires re ection. Through mentoring, coaching, and continuous feedback, participants learn
about themselves, their strengths, biases, leadership styles, and blind spots. This self-awareness is what fuels sustained growth. One of the biggest barriers to leadership development is the fear that it will disrupt day-to-day work. Mid-career professionals often
resist traditional learning formats because they don’t want to step out of their jobs or return to a classroom environment that feels
disconnected from reality.
Modern executive education understands this. The best programmes are modular and hybrid, offering the  exibility to learn while
continuing in current roles. They blend online and in-person learning, ensure learning happens in short bursts rather than long blocks,
and provide support through coaching and peer interaction. These programmes are not about academic grades. They are about real
growth. They offer frameworks, not formulas. Context, not just
content. And they are rooted in the reality of today’s business challenges, from digital transformation and sustainability to stakeholder
capitalism and cross-generational leadership. Old-school leadership programmes focused on passive learning: lectures, case studies, and off-the-shelf content. But leadership today
requires a different pedagogy. It needs to be hands-on, re ective, and deeply connected to real-world business challenges. Leaders aren’t born. They’re built. If a business is struggling to  nd leaders who can match the pace and complexity of their organisation,
the solution might not be outside but within. Their future COO, business head or transformation lead may already be in the room, just
waiting to be developed. With the right executive growth model, they can unlock that potential. And in doing so, they don’t just build
leaders; they future-proof their organisation.
Learn more about PGEMP Leadership gaps are no longer just a talent problem; they are a business risk. Across industries, companies are grappling with the same
issue: the pipeline of ready, relevant and resilient leaders seems to be slowing down. According to a 2023 Deloitte report, 89% of global
organisations consider leadership development a top priority, yet less than 15% believe they have a strong bench of future-ready
leaders.
This isn’t because talent is lacking. It’s because the expectations of leadership have shifted. Organisations today need professionals
who can lead across complexity, adapt to change, understand digital ecosystems, and align teams around both purpose and
performance. These aren’t traits that can simply be spotted in a CV or measured in an interview. They are cultivated over time through
exposure, experience, and structured development.
For many businesses, the answer has long been to recruit externally for senior roles. But this is becoming increasingly unreliable.
External hires often struggle with cultural  t, lack organisational context, and take time to deliver impact. In fact, research shows that
nearly 40% of external leaders fail within the  rst 18 months. Which raises a vital question: what if the leaders you need are already in
your organisation? One of the most respected models in this space is the Post Graduate Executive Management Programme (PGEMP) by SPJIMR. Designed
speci cally for working professionals, PGEMP follows a 21-month modular format that allows participants to upskill without leaving their
jobs.
Learn more about the PGEMP curriculum What sets PGEMP apart is its focus on integrated, cross-functional learning. Participants don’t
just become better  nance heads or
marketing leads; they become well-rounded business leaders. The curriculum is built around real challenges, with projects that tie
directly to the participant’s organisation. Faculty members are not just academic experts but industry practitioners, ensuring that
learning remains relevant and contextual.
The cohort model brings together professionals from diverse sectors, which enhances learning and sparks cross-pollination of ideas.
Over time, this leads to an expanded network, new insights, and broader thinking. Add to that personalised mentoring and continuous
feedback, and the result is a transformative leadership journey. Alumni of PGEMP have gone on to take on CXO roles, lead business units,
drive digital transformation, and, in many cases, shift from
execution to innovation within their  rms.
Anuj Goel (batch 64), an investment banking consultant, joined the PGEMP programme at SPJIMR to enhance his career after a decade in
the industry. He highlights the value of peer learning, gaining insights from diverse industries and perspectives over 21 months. The
programme’s faculty and curriculum helped him broaden his business understanding, making him a more well-rounded professional. Promoting from within is not just a sentimental HR strategy; it’s a smart business move. Internal talent already understands the
company’s values, history, informal networks, and operational realities. They come with credibility, loyalty, and often untapped potential.
But potential alone is not enough. It needs direction, exposure, and structured support.
Investing in leadership development sends a clear signal: the company trusts its people to step into bigger roles. This boosts retention,
improves succession planning, and strengthens institutional memory. It also reduces the risks of hiring mismatches or cultural
dissonance that external recruits often bring.
More importantly, internal leadership development empowers mid-level professionals to shift from execution to strategy, from function
to enterprise, and from managing work to leading people. It builds leaders who are not only skilled but also deeply invested in the
success of their organisation.
Executive education is not ‘going back to school’
The business case for growing leaders from withinWhat a modern leadership development model should look like How SPJIMR’s PGEMP transforms mid-level managers into enterprise leaders
A proven executive growth model
should include several key elements.
First, it must build strategic capability,
enabling participants to think beyond
their current roles and functions and
to see the business as an
interconnected whole. This shift in
perspective is often what separates
managers from leaders.
Third, the model must embed learning
in actual work. Real-time application,
in the form of action learning projects
or strategic assignments, helps
convert theory into impact.
Professionals not only learn new tools
and frameworks—they test them,
re ne them, and build con dence to
use them back at work.