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

(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 […]

The Value Difference between Vertical and Horizontal Development

Sharpen Ax scaled

My experience is that nearly all people responsible for developing leaders in organizations are only aware of one form of development: horizontal development. Horizontal development is adding new knowledge, skills, and capabilities to a leader. It is similar to downloading a new app onto an iPad. It is designed to broaden leaders’ functionality, to help […]

The Three Levels of Vertical Development

Mind Levels

Vertical Development Law #1: Different people make meaning of their world with varying degrees of cognitive and emotional sophistication. Vertical Development Law #2: People with greater ability to make meaning of their world in cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways possess greater ability to navigate complexity, be more agile, and lead more effectively. Based upon these […]

Vertical Development – Mind 2.0

Mind 2.0

Vertical development is a form of development that focuses on upgrading one’s internal operating system (i.e., becoming better). It is all about enhancing one’s ability to make meaning in more cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways.

Vertical Development – Mind 1.0

Mind 1.0

Vertical development is a form of development that focuses on upgrading one’s internal operating system (i.e., becoming better). It is all about enhancing one’s ability to make meaning in more cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways.

Leadership Development Should Focus on Leaders’ Internal Operating Systems

OS

When developing leaders, I think it is helpful to make a comparison between leaders and computers. If I want to upgrade a computer, I have two primary options: I can add on new programs to broaden its functionality I can upgrade its operating system Out of these two options, I think that most leadership development […]

The 10 Laws of Vertical Development for Leaders

Skyline

When it comes to personal and leadership development, there are two forms of development: Horizontal development – Increasing one’s knowledge, skills, and capabilities This is like adding an app onto an iPad, it broadens its functionality New knowledge, skills, and capabilities broaden one’s functionality, but they do not improve how effectively the iPad operates Vertical […]

The 10 Laws of Vertical Development

Top of Mountain scaled

When it comes to personal and leadership development, there are two forms of development: Horizontal development – Increasing one’s knowledge, skills, and capabilities This is like adding an app onto an iPad, it broadens its functionality New knowledge, skills, and capabilities broadens one’s functionality, but it does not improve how effectively the iPad operates Vertical […]

How Psychologically Flexible Are You?

Psychological Flexibility

In my last article, I introduced a construct that is fairly new to psychology that is just now being ushered into the organizational space: psychological flexibility. After learning about psychological flexibility, I have come to believe that the following rather dismal leadership statistics are largely a result of leaders not being very psychologically flexible: 75% […]

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