Learning how to lead from King David? On the gap between declared and real content in training Batia Ben-Hador Department of Economics and Business Administration, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel Udi Lebel Department of Communication, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel, and Uzi Ben-Shalom Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel Abstract Purpose – The initial purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of intra-organizational training for developing leadership skills and the techniques used to assimilate course content. The study aims to understand incongruities in training and assess their impacts on training effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research methods were used to assess a five-day course in the Israeli Defense Forces entitled, “Developing leadership skills in the spirit of the Bible.” Triangulation of data was achieved through observations, interviews and conversations with participants. Grounded theory and thematic analysis were used, respectively, to interpret and analyze the data. Findings – Results suggest that the course did not support the development of leadership skills. The analysis revealed two themes representing different domains: form (training techniques) and content (values). Combining the two themes indicates an incongruity between the declared and actual content of the training course. Further, this incongruity is supported by the training techniques that were used in this course. Practical implications – A clash of values may ensue that leads to long-term confusion and difficulties for participants of the training course and the organization. Originality/value – The study makes several theoretical contributions to the literature focusing on the importance of congruence between declared and real training content, and between form and content. Keywords Training, Israel, Values, Thematic analysis, Grounded theory, Organizational development, Leadership, Qualitative Paper type Research paper Introduction Many scholars in the field of organizational development (OD) have pointed out the importance of congruence between the declared and actual content of training courses (Silberman and Biech, 2015). That is, on the one hand, trainee-learning expectations should be fulfilled by content embedded in the training. On the other hand, the content should accurately reflect the organization’s intentions. Therefore, congruence is the foundation for meaningful and effective learning (Williams, 1999). Although considerable research has focused on strengthening congruence (Wilson and Smilanich, 2005), there is a dearth of research which focuses on incongruence (Tsai et al., 2017), even though such research could Real content in training 489 Received 3 October 2019 Revised 12 December 2019 1 January 2020 18 January 2020 Accepted 18 January 2020 European Journal of Training and Development Vol. 44 No. 4/5, 2020 pp. 489-507 © Emerald Publishing Limited 2046-9012 DOI 10.1108/EJTD-10-2019-0173 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/2046-9012.htm