They tell me the sessions I run would be valuable for their team. Genuinely. And then: "We just don't have the budget for it."
I haven't told them the price yet.
I've been sitting with this for a while, and I wrote about it this week. Because I think it reveals something interesting about how organisations think about people — specifically the gap between saying something has value and actually funding it.
• Why "no budget" often isn't the real answer
• How ad hoc crises somehow find funding but prevention doesn't
• Whether skills without KPIs are being undervalued
• What made your best leader great and how much of it was "the human stuff"
Drop your thoughts below: What's your experience been?
Have you ever tried to push for professional development in your workplace and hit a wall?
I'd love to hear it.