Welcome to this week’s blog that considers the working world,

what we do, and what it takes to work with purpose, lead with impact, and engage with people in a way that really makes a difference. In our ‘Work Unplugged’ podcast last week, Amrit spoke about a new approach to help embed learning and shape organisational cultures in a way that really supports development, learning cultures, retention and productivity.

He was moved to think about this because of how often we hear things like ‘we are trying to apply this learning, but our leaders don’t allow the change’ or ‘are the senior leaders going to go through this programme?’.

I am sure many of us can resonate with having completed a development programme and then walked away feeling energised, only to return to work and realise that nothing changes. And with the best will in the world, no matter how hard we try, the cultural infrastructure just doesn’t support being able to apply and sustain learning.

This feels to be a common story across many organisations: valuable time and investment go into training and development initiatives, yet the impact often stops at the training room door. Why? We’re constantly asking ourselves how to deliver not just a return on investment, but a return on effort, for everyone involved. Hence the idea of Reverse Elevation.

We pour time and thought into designing programmes tailored to the unique needs, values, and cultures of our client organisations. We want them to hit the mark, not just in terms of skills, knowledge, and behaviours, but in shaping the broader organisational culture. And yet, even the best-designed programmes sometimes fall flat, not because they’re flawed, but because what happens after the learning ends is often outside the control of us as a provider.

Here's the recurring frustration: people love the programmes we deliver. They find them insightful, empowering, even transformational. But very quickly, they spot a problem. They ask, "Have our managers done this?" or "Have our senior leaders been through the same training?"

Because what they’re seeing on the ground, the behaviour, the decisions, the way change is handled, often contradicts what they’re learning. And that disconnect undermines trust and engagement. It creates a journey from elation (“I feel invested in”) to dejection (“Why doesn’t this seem to matter beyond the training room?”). Enter: Reverse Elevation

You may have heard of reverse mentoring, where junior colleagues mentor senior leaders, usually to bring fresh perspectives or lived experience. Reverse Elevation is different. It’s not about the extremes of the hierarchy. It’s about the layer of people who’ve just completed a development programme mentoring the layer above them. After the programme, participants are paired with a leader or manager in the tier above, but not their own line manager. The goal? To share the insights, behaviours, and thinking they've gained, helping shape how those above them lead and implement future initiatives.

This process does two powerful things: 1) It embeds the learning. When you teach or mentor someone else, you reinforce and apply your own learning.

2) It influences upwards. Those leading teams and making strategic decisions now get fresh insight, shaped by development content tailored to the organisation’s culture and values.

Often, development isn't about bringing people “up to speed.” It elevates them beyond the current state of leadership in the organisation. These employees start to see how things could be. They feel hope, and then confusion and/or frustration when the reality doesn’t match. Instead of allowing that frustration to build, Reverse Elevation harnesses it and turns it into positive change.

Let’s keep it real though, this can’t work without two key ingredients:

• Psychological safety. People need to feel safe enough to offer feedback upward without fear.
• Receptive leadership. Senior leaders need to be open to learning from those around them, even when it's uncomfortable.

Without these, the idea falls flat. But where they exist, or can be nurtured, Reverse Elevation can be an absolute game-changer, making it easier to understand ROI.

Too often, it’s the training providers that are expected to prove ROI without the levers to actually drive implementation. But the real return lies in how organisations apply what’s learned by supporting those trained in applying their new skills, aligning leadership behaviours with the programme values, and creating space for development to flow upward and outward. Reverse Elevation is one way to do just that.

When done right, development isn't a tick-box exercise. It’s an investment in people, culture, and capability. And if we truly believe that we need to ensure those who complete a programme don’t just learn, they lead the change. Let them elevate others. Let them influence upwards. Let them help close the gap between what we say we want and what we actually do.

Let’s stop developing people in silos, and start developing organisations as whole systems.