Every night, my husband and I run the same calculation: Should we cook or order out? He’s a mathematician, so he crunches the numbers on what delivery really costs—fees, tips and the waste of groceries already in our fridge. I’m a creative cook, so I scan our pantry for what we already have and whip something up. Most nights, the home-cooked meal wins. It’s cheaper. It’s healthier. And it’s deeply satisfying.
That same logic applies to leadership development.
In times of tightening budgets, we in corporate learning and development must make tough decisions: Do we outsource leadership learning to a flashy external vendor, or do we roll up our sleeves and cook up something nourishing in-house? When I look at our budget, our people and our culture, I find again and again that home-cooked leadership programs offer more value, dollar for dollar and outcome for outcome.
Let’s be clear: nothing is free—not dinner, not development. But just as groceries already in your fridge reduce the marginal cost of making a meal, your internal L&Dteam—already salaried, already equipped—can deliver high-quality leadership development without the markups that come with consultants, institutes or external coaches.
And here’s the kicker: Internal programs often work better.
Why homegrown learning tastes better
Global companies now spend roughly $60 billion annually on leadership development—more than many nations invest in cancer treatment. In the U.S., the median company invested $300,000 in leadership training in 2022—a 140 percent spike from the prior year. Yet despite this surge in spending, Gartner and others report a troubling trend: Most leaders don’t apply what they learn. Why? Because many programs prioritize personal transformation over real-world relevance. The result? Impressive theory, poor application.
In-house programs fix that. They align tightly with the organization’s culture, priorities and pain points. Internal L&D teams understand where the leadership gaps are. They speak the language of the business. That context matters. When learning is clearly tied to day-to-day work, leaders are far more likely to practice and retain it.
Let’s say your team lacks the bandwidth to design from scratch. You can still “cook” in-house by integrating off-the-shelf content into your existing structure. You gain the cost benefits and keep the flexibility to season it to your taste. That’s smart learning design—and it scales.
Our pantry is full—use it
We’ve all got ingredients we’re not using. I’m talking about stretch assignments, peer coaching and action learning—tools that require minimal outside expense and deliver major impact.
Action learning, for example, puts leadership principles to work on real challenges. Teams learn by doing, reflecting and iterating on actual business problems. That’s the kind of learning that sticks. It’s contextual, relevant and measurable. Pair this with stretch assignments—where managers take on cross-functional or high-responsibility projects—and you create a dynamic, experiential pipeline for growth.
Peer coaching is another overlooked gem. When peers coach each other, they gain both perspective and skill. The coach hones their listening and guidance abilities. The coachee walks away with real-time, context-aware feedback. And best of all? You don’t need to pay a third party $350 an hour for it. Peer coaching builds community, encourages vulnerability and boosts engagement—all at the cost of regular salaries.
Compare that to external executive coaching. Yes, certified coaches offer expertise, but they often lack the contextual awareness that makes feedback actionable. Plus, engagements are bound by contract hours and constrained by budget. The result? High spend, moderate impact.
Measuring what matters
Let’s not pretend peer coaching is perfect. It depends on internal bandwidth and coaching capability. But when it works, the results are powerful. Several studies have found that peer coaching enables team performance because peers can build trust, share knowledge and expertise, provide social-emotional support during difficult times and provide an opportunity for reflection and feedback without the evaluative element of receiving coaching from a manager or leader. Relationship-based development is effective.
These benefits of peer coaching can have positive impacts on employee retention. Imperative, a peer coaching platform, conducted a study of one of their clients of 2000 employees and found that people who participated in peer coaching had a 35 percent lower attrition rate than their non-participating peers, resulting in a cost-savings of nearly $1.8 million. If the participants attended at least six coaching sessions per year, turnover dropped by 71 percent. This recipe for success using peer coaching calls for very little input of ingredients for a big return.
Meanwhile, the International Coaching Federation reports strong results for external coaching—70 percent of clients see improved performance—but again, these results come at a premium. If your budget is shrinking, do you really want to bet your chips on external vendors?
We don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Some external partners bring tremendous value. But we should stop treating them as the default and start treating them like spice: used sparingly, to elevate what we’re already preparing ourselves.
What’s on your stove?
This isn’t about cutting corners—it’s about getting smart. As corporate learning leaders, we must think like resourceful home cooks. What do we already have? What can we combine creatively? Where should we invest in pre-made ingredients, and where can we improvise?
The beauty of home-cooked leadership development is that it reflects who we are. It builds capability and culture. It stretches dollars and deepens relationships. And most importantly, it creates leaders who are ready for our challenges, not abstract case studies from somewhere else.
So, before you place that next big training order, look in your fridge. I promise there’s more there than you think.
After all, nothing in life is free—but food that tastes free always tastes better.
