Odeyemi Olayiwole, chief executive officer of Inspired2Lead, has called on organisations to make leadership development a continuous part of their operations, saying sustainable growth depends on the capacity of people leading organisations.
Olayiwole made the call while sharing his leadership impact story at the Global Leadership Network studios in the Chicago area during the 2026 Global Leadership Summit recently held in South Barrington, Illinois.
The summit brought together thousands of leaders in person from dozens of countries and sectors, while its proceedings were also broadcast to hundreds of host sites.
Reflecting on his 16-year participation in the summit, Olayiwole said the experience had provided him with a structured approach to leadership development and contributed to his personal and professional growth.
According to him, what began as an opportunity to learn developed into a long-term leadership journey that has shaped his work with individuals, executives and organisations.
He said leadership development should not be treated as a one-off intervention, noting that leaders must continuously acquire knowledge, apply what they learn, reflect on their experiences and improve their capacity.
‘No organization can outgrow the leadership capacity of its key leaders,’ Olayiwole said.
He argued that organisations seeking sustainable growth must therefore deliberately invest in developing leaders across different levels of their operations.
Olayiwole said his experience over the past 16 years demonstrated the importance of consistency in personal development, adding that sustained exposure to leadership learning had influenced his approach to developing people and organisations.
His participation at the 2026 summit also provided an opportunity to reflect on the impact of years of intentional learning on his leadership journey.
As CEO of Inspired2Lead, Olayiwole leads leadership development and management consulting initiatives covering leadership and human capital development across different sectors and institutions.
Olayiwole said the increasingly complex environment in which organisations operate makes continuous leadership development more important, urging emerging leaders and organisations to treat leadership capacity as a long-term investment.