Liane, I agree wholeheartedly.  In fact, I think communities like Lead Change are on the rise because medium sized organizations have drastically curtailed the in vivo leadership development.  There are fewer mentors and fewer opportunities for that rapid trial-and-error I mentioned above.  And I think in the long run, some traditional training dollars will be replaced with more cross-functional leadership development.  I'm working on a post that will kick around ideas for embracing the future and your thoughts about "in vivo" leadership development got my mind spinning.  Please plan to chip in on that post in a few days too.

Thanks again.  Mike...