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. […]
Stagnation: The Silent Killer That You May Be Facing
Most people, teams, and organizations are operating in some form of stagnation. On the surface, it looks like stability or comfort. But beneath the surface, it’s the silent killer of growth. The primary feeling that comes with stagnation? Frustration. You feel like you’re working hard, but not moving forward. You feel like things aren’t clicking […]
How to Elevate Along Your Being Side to Become Better
Last week, I held a Vertical Development Community of Practice meet-up. And, I want to share a profound observation that came from our discussion about our Being Side. During the meet-up we were discussing the following: If our Being Side is the degree to which our internal operating system is wired for value creation as […]
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 […]
Unlocking Leadership Potential: A Case Study on the Power of Vertical Development Coaching
Transformation is not about learning new skills; it is about becoming someone new. This is the essence of vertical development—an approach to leadership growth that shifts how individuals see and interact with the world. Rather than focusing on external competencies, vertical development works on deepening self-awareness, expanding one’s capacity to navigate complexity, and unlocking more […]
Identifying and Dealing with Toxic Leaders
In my experience working with organizations, I have seen my fair share of toxic leaders. And, I commonly get asked these questions by HR personnel and employees in the organization: What can be done to proactively identify, prevent, and/or deal with toxic leaders (such as narcissists and bullies) who ascend and are kept on because […]
How Past Trauma Affects Leadership Quality
We want better leaders and we want to become better leaders. Unfortunately, commonly referenced statistics suggest that the majority of leaders are falling significantly below expectations. Improving our leadership and that of others should be a priority. In this series I am going to make a bold claim that I believe is key to transformationally […]
A Measure of Your BEING Side: Your Relationship with Feedback
We have two sides to ourselves: Our DOING Side: Our knowledge, skills, talents and abilities Our BEING Side: Our character, mindsets, and psyche For most people and leaders: We are more advanced on our DOING Side than our BEING Side Almost all development efforts (across education, athletics, and organizational development) focus on the DOING Side […]
The Impact of Vertical Development on Individual Leaders
A few weeks ago, I surveyed my newsletter subscribers and asked them what they would like to see me write about. A common theme from the responses was that they wanted to learn more about my business and the impact that it is having on the leaders and organizations that I work with. So, over […]
Why Organizations Need Vertical Development
Organizations are increasingly recognizing that the complexity of the world their leaders are facing exceed their abilities to effectively navigate this complexity. The consequence of this is that most leaders are operating at a leadership deficit, with consequences that include exhaustion, burnout, turnover, and poor decision making.
