Window of Tolerance
In my leadership development programs, I commonly talk about a concept called “window of tolerance.” At first, I assumed that everyone was familiar with window of tolerance. But, I started asking my workshop participants if they have ever heard the concept. To my surprise, I am finding that among most audiences, only about 30% of […]
Want to Transform Yourself: Focus on Your Internal Operating System
Can you answer the following questions: Do people have an internal operating system (IOS)? Do you have a sense of what our internal operating system is? Do you think that the quality and sophistication of people’s internal operating systems differ? How can you tell? What are the signs that indicate this? In this article, I […]
The Four Practices Necessary for Vertical Development
What is Vertical Development? Vertical development is the process of upgrading our own internal operating system so that we operate in more cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways. It is the process by which we become better. Vertical development is necessary for the improvement of the following characteristics, which I believe we should all aspire to: […]
Heat Experience: A Necessary Prerequisite to Vertical Development
Heat experiences are events or situations that cause one to question their current mental models and ways of thinking.
Want to Develop Vertically? You Must Focus on Upgrading Your Body’s Nervous System
And, the reality is that the better we can effectively regulate our physical and emotional needs, the more effectively we operate.
Elevating Your Center of Gravity – How to Widen Your Window of Tolerance and Re-Center Yourself
Vertical development is a form of development that is focused on improving our internal operating such that we make meaning of our world in more cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways.
How to Create Candor
Candor is a willingness in an organization to communicate in an unreserved, honest, sincere, and forthright way.
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.
What Context Struggles to Create Space for Learning? The Workplace
I want to share with you an excerpt from Decoding Greatness by Ron Friedman that I found incredibly powerful. He writes: Growth requires strain. A moderate degree of difficulty is essential to both mental and physical development. Teachers know it. Bodybuilders know it. Athletes know it. Yet what’s the one place where stretching our limits […]
Leader, How Wide is Your Window of Tolerance?
I have been doing a number of 360-degree feedback-type assessments and follow-up coaching with leaders over the last year, and I have learned several things that have been surprising. Let me share a couple of these surprises with you. For context, in these assessments, the leaders’ subordinates, peers, and superiors evaluate the leader across a […]
