What Emotional Maturity Really Looks Like (And How to Build It)
Vertical development is about elevating our cognitive and emotional sophistication. It’s the internal transformation that allows us to see ourselves, others, and the world in more complex, integrated, and empowering ways. While we often focus on cognitive development—how we think and make sense of the world—emotional development is just as crucial. In this article, I […]
How Elevated Leaders Think Differently Than Most Leaders
Most leadership development efforts focus on what leaders need to do—setting goals, communicating clearly, managing performance. But in my work with executive teams and organizations around the world, I’ve found that how leaders think has far more impact than the tactics they use. The best leaders—the ones who build thriving teams, navigate complexity with grace, […]
When Leaders Say They Will Step Up, Do They Know How to Step Up?
The New York Jets have long been an organization defined by frustration and underperformance. While their passionate fan base remains hopeful each season, the results on the field consistently fall short of expectations. Despite some promising moments, the team has failed to establish itself as a perennial contender. This is especially true in recent years, […]
Why Boards of Directors Commonly Misstep with Their Most Important Decision
The most important decision that Boards of Directors make is who to hire as CEO. Unfortunately, the success rate of these selection decisions is poor. Consider the following statistics: 50-70% of CEOs fail in the first 18 months 11% of CEOs don’t even last their first year 34% of CEOs don’t last beyond three years […]
Understanding What Your Ego Is Can Help You Rise Above It
I feel like ego is talked about a lot. Here are some quotes about our ego: I don’t know about you, but I feel like 10 different people can talk about our ego, and they all seem to define it or think about it differently. In other words, I am not sure I have had […]
Three Distinguishing Characteristics of Elevated Leaders (and a common factor hinders one’s ability to possess these characteristics)
An “Elevated Leader” is a leader that operates with a high degree of cognitive and emotional sophistication. They have developed themselves to the degree that they are in the highest adult development level (research has found that only 1% of people and 8% of leaders operate here). Most prototypical great leaders—leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Martin […]
You Have a DOING Side AND a BEING Side
What do these people have in common: Bobby Knight, Michael Jackson, Lindsay Lohan, Shia LaBeouf, Naomi Campbell, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, Gordon Ramsay, and Tiger Woods? These are all people that are immensely talented, but have operated in a manner that reveals that they are perceived as having a flawed character. This similarity exposes an […]
People Operate at Different Levels of Cognitive and Emotional Sophistication: Signs and Signals
In the non-fiction movie, Hidden Figures, we learn about the story of different black women who played a pivotal role at NASA in helping launch an astronaut into space. These women were mathematicians. As such, the movie highlights people working out complex mathematical problems. Being about solving complex mathematical problems, the movie features different tools […]
Boards of Directors: Consider THIS Before You Select Your Next CEO
When you look at any organization that has radically transformed for elevated success, at the core, you will find the implant of a vertically developed leader.
Heat Experience: A Necessary Prerequisite to Vertical Development
Heat experiences are events or situations that cause one to question their current mental models and ways of thinking.
