How To Take Your Leadership Development To The Next Level?
How To Take Your Leadership Development To The Next Level?
Discover the secret sauce of sustainable leadership success - horizontal and vertical development.
What are the attributes of a successful leader?
What makes this leader right for this situation?
How likely will this leader grow into the role and develop as the challenges change?
Why did this leader succeed in that business but not in this business?
What are the signs that this leader has reached their limits?
If you would like the answers to these questions please email me on…
Sorry, I lied, I don’t have the answers but bear with me this essay will attempt to do just that!
I have seen many types of leaders. The gut instinct, entrepreneurial type to the more intellectual MBA/consultant type. And many more in between.
Some leaders appear to hit a glass ceiling whereas others break through the barriers and keep growing. What’s the reason?
It’s a multi-faceted answer to a complex question but one answer has emerged - the leaders who get stuck seem unable to shift their way of thinking. Whereas the leaders who smashed through the ceiling, keep evolving the ways they respond to the world in ever more sophisticated ways i.e. their worldviews keep growing. They are leaders and learners at the same time.
This essay will be split into two. The first essay will dive into:
What a worldview is
Difference between vertical and horizontal development
Why the development of worldviews matters
And how developing multiple worldviews has transformed my life (and might transform yours too)
The second essay will dig into the different worldviews and how leaders use the seven worldviews to transform their leadership.
What Is A WorldView?
A worldview is …
How you make sense of the world. It’s your meaning-making system. It’s a lens through which you perceive, interpret and engage with the world.
It’s how you think, not the skills or knowledge you have acquired. It’s more of a capacity than a capability.
It’s about growing your mind.
The development of worldviews can be traced back to Jean Piaget who identified that, just as children physically go through stages of growth, so do their minds. Researchers and thinkers such as Ken Wilber, Susanne Cook-Greuter, Jane Loevinger, Bill Torbet, and Robert Kegan built on Piaget's work to document that psychological development continues into adulthood and can be promoted by learning/training. Today we know that grown-ups continue to grow up - some more than others!
Each worldview stage determines:
Complexity of Thought: The level of complexity and integration in an individual's thinking processes. As individuals develop, they can perceive and understand more intricate patterns, systems, and interrelationships.
Perspective-Taking: The ability to take on board and integrate multiple perspectives. More advanced stages of development involve recognising and reconciling differing viewpoints and appreciating the relative nature of truth.
Use of Power. Each worldview has different ideas about power. As you progress through the worldviews you can tap into various types of power (e.g. unilateral or mutual power) to become a more effective leader.
Values and Ethics: The principles and values that guide decision-making. As individuals progress, their value systems tend to become more inclusive, universal, and principled.
Problem-Solving Approach: The methods and strategies used to address challenges and solve problems. Advanced stages involve more adaptive, creative, and systemic approaches.
Self-Identity: The evolution of self-concept and identity involves a deeper awareness and transformation of how individuals see themselves in relation to others and the world.
Emotional Regulation: How individuals manage and express their emotions. Higher stages of development are marked by greater emotional intelligence and the capacity to handle stress and ambiguity.
A metaphor that Alis Anagnostakis at the Vertical Development Institute uses is the piano and notes/octaves. As a beginner, you can play a limited range of notes suggesting you have limited worldviews. As you expand your range of notes and octaves you can play more rich and intricate compositions implying you have multiple worldviews at your fingertips.
In summary, a worldview reflects the integrated and holistic nature of an individual's developmental stage, influencing how they interpret their experiences, interact with others, and navigate the complexities of life.
Vertical Development (How We Think) vs Horizontal Development (What We Know)
As Robert Kegan said, most leaders are ‘in over their heads’.
“The demands of the moment exceed my capacities. I am in over my head.”
Filling up leaders with more skills and knowledge (horizontal development) is necessary and valuable but not sufficient.
The VUCA world requires something more - an evolving wisdom about how to apply the right skills and knowledge (vertical development).
Too often intellectually bright leaders lack the maturity which comes with vertical development to apply their knowledge effectively.
The invitation from Bob Kegan is to make a choice:
“I can reduce the demands or I can grow my capacities - I can choose transformational change.”
Leaders are more likely to succeed not just because of WHAT they know, but because of HOW they think.
Traditional leadership development focuses on leadership competencies and skills. However, most programs fail to develop these key competencies sustainably because the new skills are applied poorly or inappropriately.
To illustrate the difference between horizontal and vertical development, consider the example of Margo, the CEO of a fast-growing SaaS business.
She is very good at solving problems, and putting out fires. As the business grows more fires are lighting up as her team grows from 50 to 100. Her team knows she’s good at finding solutions, so rather than figure it out for themselves they get used to coming to Margo. Overwhelm builds onto overwhelm. Team engagement drops dramatically.
Solution?
Delegation - to reduce Margo’s time spent solving other people’s problems and empower her team to think for themselves. Win-win. In theory.
Margo proudly announces her new approach to her senior leadership team. Unfortunately, she goes from one extreme to another - solving everyone’s problems to slamming the door on any discussions about the challenges her colleagues are facing. The delegation attempt fails and she goes back to what she has always been doing.
This is an example of horizontal development on its own being insufficient. Margo finds another coach who applies both horizontal and vertical development. Margo already knows the skills so there is little to do on the horizontal side.
To help Margo with effective delegation and empowering her team, her coach focuses on vertical development in the following areas:
➕ Cognitive Development
Encourage Margo to step back, get on the balcony and see the bigger picture. Help her understand how her micromanagement and inability to delegate are hindering the growth of her team and the company.
Develop her capacity for abstract thinking and seeing multiple perspectives on the delegation challenge.
➕ Emotional Intelligence
Work on her ability to regulate her emotions and respond to challenges with more patience and understanding.
Enhance her empathy and ability to see things from her team's point of view, understanding their needs and concerns around delegation.
➕ Mindset Shifts
Challenge Margo's limiting beliefs about delegation, such as "I'm the only one who can do it right" or "My team isn't ready for more responsibility."
Help her develop a growth mindset and see delegation as an opportunity for her team to learn and grow, rather than a risk.
Work on her ability to think systemically and see the interconnections between different parts of the organisation.
➕ Interpersonal Skills
Work on Margo's communication skills, especially when it comes to setting clear expectations and providing feedback to her team.
Help her develop a coaching mindset and learn how to ask powerful questions that empower her team to find their own solutions.
Practice having difficult conversations with her team about delegation and accountability.
➕ Self-Awareness
Encourage Margo to reflect on her own leadership journey and the lessons she has learned along the way.
Help her identify her strengths and weaknesses as a leader and how they impact her ability to delegate effectively.
Work on her ability to seek feedback and learn from her mistakes.
To use an analogy, horizontal development is like adding apps like LinkedIn and Apple Podcasts to your operating system such as iPhone’s iOS.
Horizontal Development - The Apps
Vertical Development - The Operating System
Vertical growth is about changing the entire operating system in order to generate more power and manage greater complexity. That then enables a much smarter use of the apps and programs.
Why The Development Of Worldviews Matters
I want to share the research from two proponents of vertical development.
Worldview transformation programs can provide a lever which lifts all competencies. Nick Petrie in his whitepaper on Vertical Development mentions a study of 74 leaders by Harris and Kuthnert which showed that later-stage worldviews predicted higher effectiveness in 8 competencies:
Inspiring commitment
Leading change
Managing performance
Cultivating and retaining talent
Catalysing teams
Creating a compelling vision
Resilience
Seeing a broader context.
Alis Anagnostakis, the founder of Vertical Development Institute, also summarises some of the research which shows that later-stage leaders are more able to think systemically, thrive in complexity, lead organisational transformations, tolerate ambiguity, manage polarities, balance individual and collective interests and allow different perspectives to surface to co-create solutions.
How Developing Multiple Worldviews Has Transformed My Life
“Development refers to how we act and learn to see the world through new eyes, how we change our interpretations of experience and how we transform our views of reality. It describes what we are aware of, or what we can pay attention to, and therefore what we can influence and integrate.”
Susanne Cook-Greuter
The development of multiple worldviews has been transformative for numerous reasons but here are five:
Better Manage Polarities (check out my two essays - essay 1 and essay 2 - on the topic). Switching my thinking from ‘either/or’ to ‘both/and’ has allowed me to let go of rigid assumptions, engage in open-minded dialogue, find more creative and effective solutions, and seek to understand diverse viewpoints and uncover synergies.
‘Wise Fish’ Perspective. A wise adult fish swims past two carefree young fish and asks, “How’s the water?” A couple of minutes later one of the youngsters asks the other, “What’s water?” The point is that these youngsters are unaware of their environment. As Bob Kegan and Lisa Lahey would say they are subject to it, meaning they can’t step back, see it as separate to them and reflect upon it. Whereas the wise adult fish has been able to get on the balcony and see what he or she is swimming in - the water has become an object to her thinking. The capacity I’m developing is to first notice when I have got caught up in a conversation i.e. subject to it. There are various behavioural and physical patterns I have identified in myself e.g. shallower breathing, rising heartbeat, desire to be right, passion. Secondly, I shift to a balcony and start to observe myself and others from a different perspective without totally withdrawing myself from the conversation. Asking a question or making an inquiry can help shift my perspective from subject to object - this is a form of Action Inquiry. Increasingly I am able to be more effective in the present moment.
Navigate Complexity. As I have opened the door to Adult Development the other door of Complexity Thinking has become more visible. Coincidence? I don’t think so. You cannot see all of the connections and relationships within a complex system. Simple cause-and-effect relationships cannot be established. For example with some decisions or problems, I am not forcing the issue or solution. I’m letting the tension in the room play out, I am not trying to be right or win the argument, I’m encouraging everyone to voice their opinions, and letting solutions emerge. Not for every decision but where we are stepping into complexity e.g. culture change, team dynamics.
Understand and Appreciate Contrasting Perspectives. We will only ever have a partial and incomplete understanding of any situation which is why reaching out for different perspectives will give you a fuller and more accurate picture. I have had this mindset for a long time but adult development theory has helped take it to a deeper and more active level. I am cultivating “colliding perspectives” where a diversity of opinions and worldviews are voiced and heard. Why? It creates an expansive way of sense-making which is vital for addressing the ambiguous, multifaceted challenges modern leaders face.
Deep Self-Awareness. In simple terms, I am becoming more conscious. I strongly believe that the most sustainably successful leaders have done a lot of work on themselves and are very self-aware - they are Conscious Leaders as Jim Dethmer says. You cannot lead others well unless you understand yourself - your strengths, weaknesses, blindspots, shadow, triggers, patterns of behaviour, reputation. Through the various adult development theories I have better understood my personal journey as an adult. I better understand the struggles I have had. I have much more empathy for the less mature me and indeed will consciously step back into him if the context warrants it. I am celebrating my range of worldviews. I am inviting complexity and ambiguity into my life and getting more comfortable with it.
Vertical Development Is Not A Panacea But It Does Matter!
At a talk I went to last year, Bob Hogan, who created the Hogan Assessments and has been studying leadership for decades, talked about leadership being THE most important problem in human affairs. When good leadership is in place organisations and countries prosper.
When bad leadership is in place, organisations and countries fail. He posed the question: how good is modern leadership? Concluding bad management is normative based on statistics such as:
Gallup reports 65% of the global workforce is disengaged
65-75% of the workforce say the worst part of their lives is their boss
And the most worrisome statistic for leaders:
20% of the Baltimore workforce say they fantasise daily about killing their boss!
So what’s going wrong? Selection or training? Both I suggest.
Most leadership development focuses on horizontal development - adding more knowledge, skills and competencies. Based on the statistics aforementioned it’s not working.
We need to evolve how we develop leaders.
Leaders are more likely to succeed not just because of WHAT they know, but because of HOW they think.
Vertical development represents a transformative approach to leadership growth that goes beyond traditional skill acquisition. By expanding our worldviews and enhancing our cognitive complexity, emotional intelligence, and self-awareness, we can unlock our full potential and become more effective leaders capable of navigating the challenges of our increasingly complex world.
As we progress through different worldviews, we enhance our ability to think systemically, tolerate ambiguity, and lead organisational transformations. This growth not only benefits us as individuals but also positively impacts our teams and organisations.
Leaders with a larger array of worldviews have a wider set of horizons they can see. They have more freedom to choose and respond to situations in more appropriate ways. Imagine you can play not just two or three octaves on your piano but seven - what complex tunes or melodies could you create now?
In an era where many leaders find themselves "in over their heads," as Robert Kegan noted, the choice to engage in transformational change through vertical development may be the key to not just surviving but thriving in our complex, volatile world.