Why Hasn’t Vertical Development Been Widely Adopted?
If you hang around the leadership-development space long enough, you’ll eventually run into the idea of vertical development—the process of upgrading a leader’s internal operating system so they can think, feel, and relate at higher levels of complexity. This isn’t a new idea. For decades, developmental psychologists and leadership scholars have been mapping how adults […]
The Best Gift You Can Give This Season? A Better Version of Yourself
As I think about the upcoming holiday season, I’ve been reflecting not just on the gifts I want to give, but on what really makes a gift meaningful. Of course, I’ll be buying a few things for my wife and kids. But I keep coming back to this idea: What if the most valuable gift […]
When Are You Ripe for Vertical Development Coaching?
Most of us only really know one development path. It’s the one we’ve been on since school: Read the book Take the course Get the certification Add another tool to the toolkit This is horizontal development—gaining more knowledge and skills. It’s like downloading another app onto your iPad. Helpful, sometimes necessary, but it doesn’t change […]
Four Invisible Forces Keeping You Stuck (and How to Bust Through Them)
I am fortunate that I get to consistently work with people who want to become better. They want to elevate their lives, their leaders, and their impact. When I help people to elevate, I consistently observe (and I have felt this personally) that there are forces that are holding people down at their current level. […]
Are Your Mindsets Helping You Become Who You’re Meant to Be?
How to Align Your Inner World with Your Highest Aspirations We all want to grow. We set goals, pursue promotions, seek deeper relationships, or try to lead more effectively. We invest in strategies, plans, and accountability structures. And yet—progress often stalls. We hit invisible ceilings. We sabotage our momentum. Or worse, we succeed on the […]
The Real Reason Most Coaching Doesn’t Lead to Transformation
Why Horizontal Development Falls Short — and What Vertical Development Offers Instead If you’ve ever felt like you’ve “done the work” — read the books, attended the workshops, worked with a coach — but you still aren’t experiencing the transformation you hoped for, you’re not alone. In fact, that’s one of the most common experiences […]
Outpaced: Leaders are Increasingly Underprepared for the Rising Pace of Change
The latest data from Accenture’s Pulse of Change (September 2025) should stop leaders in their tracks: 90% of C-suite executives say the pace of change has accelerated since January, yet only 42% feel prepared to meet it—down from 46% earlier in the year. In other words, the gap is widening between how fast the world […]
The Thin Line Between Truly Great Leaders and Results-Oriented Leaders
Over the past several weeks, I’ve been exploring a deceptively simple question: What differentiates truly great leaders (the highest echelon of leaders) from results-oriented leaders (most leaders)? Before diving into this, I assumed that there would be large and clear distinctions between these two levels of leaders. But as I dug deeper, I came to […]
Stagnation Survey Results: What I have Learned about Team-Level Stagnation
I recently surveyed my newsletter subscribers to learn about their experiences with stagnation. I received 89 responses. I asked questions related to individual-level stagnation, which I reported on previously. And, I asked questions about team-level stagnation, which I will report on here. Why I Ran This Survey I’ve experienced stagnation to different degrees and at […]
Stagnation Survey Results: What I have Learned about Individual-Level Stagnation
I recently surveyed my newsletter subscribers to learn about their experiences with stagnation. I received 89 responses. I asked questions related to individual-level stagnation, which I will report on in this blog post. And, I asked questions about team-level stagnation, which I will report on in the next blog post. Why I Ran This Survey […]
