There’s an old line - attributed possibly to everyone from Henry Ford to Richard Branson - and it goes something like this:
Perhaps it’s an ironic joke… but it’s also a powerful warning.
And right now, as budgets tighten and uncertainty escalates, it’s a very clear reminder that timing is everything.
Because here’s the great organisational irony: when things get shaky, the first thing to go is the L&D budget. Yikes!
In this wonky world that we now live in, the temptation is for leaders to keep saying, “Let’s just wait until things settle…”
But things rarely “settle”, at least not for very long - they just keep changing. And these days… at exponential speed.
And while we wait. Teams get tired and cranky. Leaders lose confidence and detach.
People stop stretching and learning. At best - they quietly slip into survival mode.
The real danger isn’t that you’ll invest in people who might one day leave. It’s that you’ll stop investing in the people who are still with you - trying to do more with less. Trying to stay relevant. And, trying to stay motivated in a world that isn’t slowing down for anyone.
Challenging times and tight budgets don’t remove the need for development - they increase it!
Uncertainty doesn’t justify pausing growth - it makes growth the smartest, most stabilising move that you can make. Just when you need your people to be at their best.
When you speak with and listen to leaders who consistently outperform their difficult environment, you’ll hear the same message:
Great cultures aren’t built in the good years.
They’re built in the uncomfortable ones.
Liz Wiseman says it beautifully in Multipliers: leaders don’t get more from people by pushing harder - they get more because they intentionally develop capability, even when it feels inconvenient. Especially when it feels inconvenient.
2026 is approaching fast. Organisations that act now - even with tight budgets - will start their year with teams who are capable, confident, curious, and ready!
And the ones that wait… they’ll spend the first half of 2026 playing catch-up.
So, here’s the challenge: don’t pull back when your people need you to lean in.
Make development the priority now, not the thing that you scramble for later.
Wishing you a productive week of planning and confirming your 2026 L&D priorities.
Richard Dore
Co-CEO - Director of Partnerships
Proteus Leadership
2026 is closer than you think! Smart organisations are already locking in their staff development plans, and seats are filling fast. Explore Proteus 2026 Public Professional Development Schedule today and secure your team’s success for the year ahead.
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