Of all of the things I do in my consulting practice, the thing that I do the most is support organizations’ leadership development programs.
In fact, I do this in three different ways, ranging from lower involvement to higher involvement:
- Lowest involvement: I engage in a one-off keynote or workshop as part of a leadership development program
- Medium involvement: I work with the organization to engage in a series of workshops for their leaders
- Highest involvement: I work with the organization to create and structure an entire leadership development program
Below, I will share a little more detail about these different types of engagement, including identifying the ideal situations for bringing me in for each.
One-Off Keynotes or Workshops
When I am asked to give keynotes, it is generally to provide a combination of entertainment and valuable insights, all with the hope that I can create a spark that will lead to the development and elevation of the audience.
When I am asked to give one-off workshops, it is generally a part of a broader leadership development program, and the organization is wanting a presentation on either mindsets, vertical development, or related topic. The goal of these workshops is to foster deeper self-awareness and next-step directions for elevating as a leader.
Generally when I engage in these efforts, I’ll have the attendees take my assessments in advance and that allows me to produce a collective mindset report to help personalize the content to them and empower them to have deep-level discussions.
I love engaging in these efforts because I can see sparks fly and awakening occurring, which may be just what is needed for them to transformationally elevate in their leadership. Stated differently, I feel like, in these contexts, I am being used as an inflection point for the attendees’ future.
My hope is always that these efforts lead to follow-up and more intentional focus on elevating leaders through a focus on vertical development and/or mindsets.
Workshop Series
Occasionally I am asked to construct workshop series on the topics of vertical development and/or mindsets.
Generally, the organizations that have me do these series are people who are already quite familiar with vertical development/mindsets, recognize that these are deep topics, and appreciate that transformational change takes more than just a one-off keynote or workshop. They want to put something together that creates a deep and lasting impact, and that is what my workshop series can do.
Every series is custom built to the meet the desired outcomes for the development initiative, but they generally involve helping leaders:
- Understand the value and importance of vertical development and/or mindsets
- Activities (including my assessments) designed to help them deepen their self-awareness about their vertical development altitude and/or quality of their mindsets
- Engaging in deep-level discussions on topics related to vertical development and mindsets (e.g., the four sets of mindsets; this is often where elevated sensemaking occurs)
- Develop personal development plans for themselves or for the groups they lead
This option is great for organizations seeking to dramatically elevate their organizations’ leadership culture.
Creation of a Leadership Development Program
Being a vertical development expert, and someone who tries to inform leadership developers of the value and difference between vertical development and horizontal development (traditional leadership development efforts), I am occasionally asked to help an organization or leadership development team to restructure and restrategize their leadership development efforts.
These organizations recognize that what they have done in the past isn’t quite having the intended effect that they desire, and they are rethinking how to have a more transformational impact. They are aware of vertical development and its transformational impact, but they may lack the experience with vertical development to effectively structure a leadership development program that integrates vertical development into the vertical development efforts.
Often my involvement includes both (1) helping the leadership developers strategize and structure a leadership development program, and (2) facilitation of some of the leadership development efforts (e.g., workshops).
What are the outcomes of engaging in this work?
The outcomes that I see through these efforts really depend on the planning, investment, and support the organization provides surrounding the work that I do.
But, at the very least, these efforts help leaders more fully awaken to themselves and the quality of leadership, which is always the first step in transforming into an elevated leader. Because so few leaders awaken, this is more than half the battle. And, if we can just do that, it is more than worth the investment. If we can do more than that, then that is when we start to see not just the leaders elevate, but the organization elevate as a whole.
If you would like to explore utilizing me in your leadership development efforts, let’s connect.
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