Self-Awakening: Are You Someone Who Has “Awakened?”
Last week I wrapped up the latest cohort of “The Climb,” a 10-person vertical-development intensive that culminates in summiting a 14,000-foot peak. Actually—make that two peaks: Mount Belford and Mount Oxford, connected by a saddle of loose rock that feels designed to test both quads and character. Three days in the Rockies gave us more […]
The 3 Biggest Reasons Most Adults Don’t Change, Develop, or Improve
Why two-thirds of well-intentioned professionals stay stuck—and how you can break the pattern. The Paradox of Adult Growth We live in an era awash with podcasts, masterclasses, and micro-learning apps, yet roughly 64 percent of adults plateau at the very first rung of adult development—what Robert Kegan calls the Socialized Mind (or what I label […]
Why Traditional Leadership No Longer Works—And What Needs to Replace It
We’re living in a time of compounding complexity. As leaders, we’re being asked to navigate environments that are more volatile, uncertain, and fast-moving than ever before. And yet, many organizations are still operating with a traditional model of leadership—one that was built for predictability, not complexity. I was recently at ATD25, where I had the […]
Why Most Adults Don’t Develop in Adulthood
Developmental psychology has long shown that children progress through a series of well-defined developmental stages as they grow from infancy to adulthood. Nearly all children undergo these transformations, leading many to believe that development is simply a function of age. But when we turn our focus to adulthood, the data tells a different story. Research […]
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, […]
Moving Your Leaders Beyond Mediocrity: How to Elevate Your Leaders to Mind 3.0
In today’s rapidly changing and increasingly complex world, effective leadership is more critical than ever. Yet, startling data from PWC reveals that 85% of leaders operate at a moderate level of sophistication in their leadership—what we can classify as Mind 2.0. While these leaders are valuable and competent in many ways, most organizations are unknowingly […]
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 […]
The Intersection of Vertical Development and Mindsets
Over the last four years, I have been leveraging two different models when helping to elevate leaders and executives to operate a higher levels: My mindset framework, which I cover in my book, Success Mindsets My vertical development framework, which I cover in my book, The Elevated Leader Both of these frameworks help leaders and […]
The Number One Priority of the Most Elevated Leaders
Knowing about the concept of vertical development, I have come to learn that leaders can operate from three different levels of cognitive and emotional sophistication: Recognizing that only 8% of leaders operate at the highest level of leadership, I have been on a mission to identify: Exemplars of Mind 3.0 leaders What Mind 3.0 leaders […]
How Mind 3.0 Leaders Actualize Transformational Change
There are three modern business leaders that I have studied that: Are great examples of being Mind 3.0 (i.e., highly vertically developed) leaders that… Have actualized transformational change in the organizations they led. These leaders are: Alan Mulally (Ford) – see American Icon Ed Catmull (Disney Animation) – see Creativity, Inc. Satya Nadella (Microsoft) – […]
