The Climb: A Development Program to Elevate Your Life and Leadership

This summer, I co-led a personal/leadership development program called, The Climb, designed to help people and leaders elevate their life and leadership so that they operate at a transformationally higher level. My co-leaders were Chris Spear (Climb Leader and small business coach) and Susan Spear (Nutritionist). The Climb was structured to help people vertically develop […]

Understanding What Your Ego Is Can Help You Rise Above It

When the ego dies, the soul awakes.

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 […]

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 […]

How Many Value Creators Do You Have In Your Organization?

16 3 vertical vs horizontal development

When I talk about the difference between horizontal and vertical development, I generally present the following figure as a way to depict their different foci: I was recently challenged by two colleagues to try to create a figure with horizontal development on the X axis and vertical development on the Y Axis like so: The […]

Going From Mind 2.0 to Mind 3.0

fog lifting

Over the next several weeks, I want to share examples of people I have worked or interacted with that are at different stages of their personal vertical development journeys.

The purpose of doing this is to help you:

Better see what vertical development looks and feels like
See the value of focusing on your vertical development
Be inspired, as I have been, by the courage of others who are letting go of who they have been and embracing an elevated version of themselves

Going from Mind 1.0 to Mind 2.0

woman sunrise

Over the next several weeks, I want to share examples of people I have worked or interacted with that are at different stages of their personal vertical development journeys.

The purpose of doing this is to help you:

Better see what vertical development looks and feels like
See the value of focusing on your vertical development
Be inspired, as I have been, by the courage of others who are letting go of who they have been and embracing an elevated version of themselves

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 […]

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 3.0

Mind 3.0

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.

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