Leadership development and training is usually applied after the fact: someone is in a leadership role, having demonstrated some skills, and now is sent for leadership training, where they are told THE ONE TRUE WAY to lead. If that WAY is close to their style, they gain benefit. If it isn’t, then at least they’ll be in a room with some colleagues to commiserate over bad coffee.
But zoom even takes away the bad coffee.
The reality is that there is no one way to lead, and there is no silver bullet. But everyone is a leader, even if only through influence and affect, so it is never too early to practice leadership. And never too late – or too early – to refine your practice.