2 Features I’d Add to a Leadership Problem-Solving Course for Better Skill Transfer

6/28/2026

6 min read

2 Features I’d Add to a Leadership Problem-Solving Course for Better Skill Transfer

Why this course is worth enhancing

The course How Great Leaders Solve Problems covers the right leadership ground: prevention, detection, team communication, brainstorming, and removing barriers to solutions. For a business buyer, that matters because problem-solving is rarely a knowledge gap alone. It is usually a judgment, communication, and execution gap.

That is why I look at courses like this through a practical lens. Good content explains what effective leaders do. Better learning design helps managers actually do it when a deadline slips, a conflict surfaces, or a team stalls on options.

I wrote about the broader redesign approach in How I’d Turn “How Great Leaders Solve Problems” Into Leadership Training Managers Will Use. Here, I’m narrowing the focus to two feature decisions that would make this course more useful in day-to-day leadership situations.

Where buyers should push further

Most leadership courses do a decent job with concepts. The weak point is usually application. A learner finishes the module understanding the steps of problem-solving, but still hesitates when they need to frame a team issue, ask better questions, or respond to messy input from direct reports.

If I were advising a buyer evaluating this course, I would push for features that close that gap. Specifically, I would look for tools that help with:

Practice inside realistic leadership conversations
Support when learners get stuck mid-lesson
Reinforcement of course language and decision frameworks
Lower friction for busy managers who may not revisit formal training

The goal is not more content. The goal is more useful performance support inside the course experience.

Feature 1: Roleplay for decision practice

If I could choose one interactive upgrade for this course, I would start with Roleplay. Leadership problem-solving is situational. Managers need to interpret context, choose a response, and deal with consequences. A static lesson can explain that process, but roleplay lets them rehearse it.

Why I’d use it here

This course already covers problem framing, communication, brainstorming, and barriers to creative problem-solving. Those topics are ideal for scenario-based interactions because they depend on tone, timing, and judgment. A learner can read about how to facilitate a team through a problem, but that is different from choosing what to say when the team is defensive or disengaged.

What I’d build

I would embed short branching scenes where a leader has to respond to a common workplace issue: a recurring process breakdown, a missed deliverable, or a team that jumps to solutions before defining the real problem. The learner would make decisions at key moments, then receive coaching feedback tied to the course framework.

Present a realistic leadership problem
Ask the learner to choose how to respond
Show the team reaction or downstream effect
Provide targeted feedback on the choice
Offer a retry path to test a better approach

Why it matters for buyers

Roleplay turns leadership training into practice instead of passive review. For business buyers, that usually makes the course easier to defend internally because stakeholders can see how the training connects to manager behavior, not just completion rates.

Feature 2: Course Tutor for in-the-moment support

The second feature I would add is Course Tutor. This is especially useful in a course like this because learners often need clarification in the moment. They may understand the overall idea of problem prevention or brainstorming, but still wonder how to apply it to their team.

Why I’d use it here

Leadership learners bring messy real-world context into training. They compare what they are seeing on screen with a specific team issue, employee behavior, or operational challenge. When the course cannot answer that moment of uncertainty, progress slows and the learner often moves on.

What I’d configure

I would keep the tutor tightly scoped to the lesson content, terminology, and examples. That way, the support stays aligned with the course rather than drifting into generic leadership advice. I would also make it available at points where learners are most likely to pause, such as after introducing the problem-solving process or before a roleplay activity.

Why it matters for buyers

Course Tutor reduces friction without requiring a facilitator to be present. For organizations with distributed managers, limited coaching capacity, or self-paced leadership programs, that can make the learning experience more usable and easier to scale.

How I would sequence them

I would not drop both features into the course randomly. The order matters.

My sequence would look like this:

Teach the core problem-solving framework
Use Course Tutor at key decision points for clarification
Move the learner into roleplay to apply the framework
Return feedback tied to the same language used in the lesson
Close with a short job-focused reflection or action prompt

This matters because support and practice should reinforce each other. If the learner can ask for help and then immediately apply the concept, the course feels more coherent. That is a better design choice than treating advanced features like add-ons.

What buyers should ask vendors

If you are evaluating leadership eLearning, I would ask direct questions about how these features will be implemented, not just whether they exist.

Can roleplay scenarios reflect our leadership context and common team issues?
How is feedback written so it reinforces the course model?
Is the tutor limited to approved course content and language?
Where in the lesson flow will these features appear?
What reporting or review options are available for learner interactions?

Feature lists are easy to sell. Integration quality is what determines whether the learning feels helpful or distracting.

If you want to compare options before making a build decision, I recommend reviewing more examples on the blog and then reaching out through the contact page to talk through fit, scope, and delivery constraints.

Next step

If this course were part of a leadership training catalog I was helping a client improve, these are the two additions I would prioritize first. Roleplay gives managers a safe place to practice decisions. Course Tutor gives them help when they hesitate. Together, they make a solid leadership course more usable on the job.

That is the standard I use when advising buyers: not whether a course covers the topic, but whether the design helps learners act on it. If you want a practical review of your current leadership content, pricing options are available on the pricing page.