Why every dollar you spend on Leadership Training for you or your team should make you money — not cost it.

Rose Odette
Oct 25
2 min read

Rose Odette - IBM method of selling with IRR applied to Leadership Training

When I worked for IBM, we never sold systems by bragging about the hardware specs. We sold based on IRR — Internal Rate of Return. The question every CFO asked was:

“When does this investment pay for itself — and start making us money?”

We’d show how a $100,000 computer system that automated payroll could save $100,000 in the first year through speed and accuracy. That’s your break-even point. After that, every hour saved, every error avoided, every smoother transaction — was pure profit.

Now here’s the kicker: the same principle applies to leadership training.

💡 Five Ideals - Leadership Training

Leadership is an asset, not an expense. It should have a measurable payback period, just like any capital investment.
Break-even is when clarity meets confidence. Once you can lead without constant reactivity, you’re in profit mode.
Every skill compounds. Communication, delegation, decision-making — all become multipliers.
Team development shortens the payback. When your people grow, your leadership investment returns faster.
After mastery, everything accelerates. Once your leadership pays for itself, your organization becomes a self-funding growth machine.

💪 Five Action Steps

Treat leadership growth like an IRR calculation. Ask: “When will this investment start paying me back?”
Identify measurable savings. Faster meetings, reduced turnover, improved productivity — those are your “efficiency profits.”
Quantify your ROI timeline. How long until your investment in a course, coach, or mastermind breaks even?
Reinvest the profits. Use time saved and insights gained to mentor others — that’s compounding leadership equity.
Apply the IBM principle. If you’d invest in tech that saves time, why not in yourself — the system that powers every decision?

💬 Conclusion - DM me to Apply this to you or your team

When I sold IBM systems, I learned that smart buyers didn’t fear big price tags — they feared poor returns. If the system paid for itself in 12 months, it was a no-brainer.

The same logic applies to your leadership evolution. You invest $100 — in coaching, books, or training — and the first time your new mindset saves your company $100 in time or results, you’ve hit break-even. From that point forward, every decision you make, every person you influence, every result you multiply — is profit.

That’s your Leadership Payback Period™. And once you cross it, your Leadership IRR™ compounds for life.