The Difference Between Great and Bad Leaders is Smaller than I Thought

business men balance on seesaw

I want to share one of my biggest learnings that I have had over the last several months of doing deep vertical development work with a variety of executive teams. This work has involved doing 360’s and a coaching exercise that facilitates a deep introspective dive designed to help people uncover their subconscious fears, mental […]

Elevating Your Dynamism as a Leader: An Instrument Analogy

symphony orchestra at sunset

One of the biggest challenges facing leaders right now is that over the last several years, complexity and tumultuousness have skyrocketed, exceeding leaders’ development and their own complexity and ability to navigate the tumultuous environment they are facing. I call this “The Leadership Deficit.” And, every organization that I have worked with a struggling with […]

Assessing and Elevating the Sophistication of Your Leadership Team

Investigating the Sophistication of Your Executive Team

In my experience of working with dozens of leadership teams, I have observed the following: Every leadership team operates at a different level of sophistication ranging from low to high Most (if not all) leadership teams believe that they are more sophisticated than they really are An organization’s growth and success are largely determined by […]

An Undervalued Key to Effective Leadership: Possessing a Willingness for Reinvention

Fill in the blank: I want to be a successful/effective/loving ____________________. I imagine that your ‘blank’ was filled with “leader,” “spouse,” “parent,” “manager,” “employee,” “teacher,” or something similar. I want to propose an idea to you: Your ability to become truly successful/effective/loving is contingent on your willingness to reinvent yourself. I am not talking about […]

The Most Vertically Developed Leaders See Themselves as Gardeners

Hands with small plant

Any good gardener knows three things: The gardener cannot transform a seed into a tree The gardener can create the conditions for a seed to transform into a tree The more appropriate the conditions are for a given fruit-producing tree, the more fruit the tree will produce The best and most vertically developed leaders understand […]

The Value of Vertical Development to Leadership Development and Effectiveness

Tom Brady

Vertical development is as essential to leadership effectiveness as Pliability is essential to peak athletic performance What does it take to be the best player that has ever played in one’s sport? It takes consistent top-level performance over a long period of time. Look at Tom Brady. No one would ever say that he is […]

Vertical Development Should Come Before Horizontal Development

Operating System2

Last year, I did a study of 153 organization’s leadership development efforts. One of the things that was revealed was the topics that organizations most commonly focus on in their leadership development programs. Here are the results: Communication & Interpersonal Skills – 72% of organizations Developing Management Skills (e.g., planning & decision-making) – 54% of […]

Gauging Your Vertical Development Altitude – Part 2

In a Relationship With

(If you are already familiar with my vertical development framework, skip down two sections) There are two different forms of development that we can focus on to develop ourselves: horizontal development and vertical development. Horizontal development is increasing our knowledge, skills, and competencies. This form of development is valuable because it allows us to DO […]

Gauging Your Vertical Development Altitude – Part 1

Penguin Cover

(If you are already familiar with my vertical development framework, skip down two sections) There are two different forms of development that we can focus on to develop ourselves: horizontal development and vertical development. Horizontal development is increasing our knowledge, skills, and competencies. This form of development is valuable because it allows us to DO […]