Solving big challenges
requires a big mind.
Developing leaders “vertically” is the key.
We live in a VUCA world – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.
Our challenges are big. As Robert Kegan, Harvard professor says, “80% of our leaders are in over their heads.” The complexity of their world is beyond the development of their perspective to solve its challenges.
Most leaders cannot fully see, interpret or process the magnitude of dynamics at play. Their conventional mindsets preclude the possibility of breakthrough.
In our work, we open leaders’ minds and expand their perspective so they can effectively meet the challenges of our complex 21st Century world.
Vertical Leadership Development is the cutting edge of executive development.
Traditional executive development delivers horizontal learning: it provides new knowledge, skills and methods, all within the existing conventional paradigm or worldview.
Vertical Leadership Development is about expanding worldviews and raising leaders’ consciousness to higher levels or “stages of development.” It expands their perspective to see and include more of the dynamics at play, catalyzing new aha’s, insights and solutions.
Vertical development opens new possibilities for transformation and breakthrough. With a bigger mind, leaders can take on bigger challenges.
We've been pioneering Vertical Leadership Development for nearly 40 years.
“We can’t solve our problems from the same level of consciousness that created them.”
– Albert Einstein
Vertical Leader Development is like climbing a ladder or mountain peak and seeing from a higher place. The next, more advanced stage of development provides a larger, more holistic perspective, a more inclusive line of sight to the dynamics at play.
Einstein’s brilliance was that he knew and pursued expanded perspectives.
The Stages of Vertical Development
As leaders develop vertically they expand their perspective.
Most leaders operate with an Achiever perspective. Research shows that transformation requires, minimally, the Strategist level. Achieving Breakthrough requires an Alchemist perspective.
WEBINAR The higher a leader’s stage of development, the more they possess these capabilities.
Seeing
SYSTEMS
Broadening perspective
across space
Seeing Systems
This Sight increases leaders’ ability to see relationships between parts and wholes, their influences on each other, their inter-dependencies and connections across boundaries. They see distant impacts of local actions and the more complex dynamics across levels of scale (e.g., department, organization, market, national, world).
Seeing
PROCESS
Broadening perspective
across time
Seeing Process
With this Sight, leaders become able to see further into the future, perceiving delayed impacts and inter-dependencies of past and future events. They see the best sequence of action to produce optimal results. They learn to course correct and navigate complex, non-linear and emergent processes.
Seeing Internal & External
REALITIES
Deepening perspective
within
Seeing Internal/External Realities
Individually, internal reality refers to mindset, and collectively, to culture. External reality refers to behavior, action, systems, and results. Both are always at play and reflect and influence each other. Most leaders do not see this. They get blindsided by the cause and effect impacts between the two. This Sight develops their ability to see and navigate this interplay.
Seeing
CONSCIOUSLY
Getting perspective
on your perspective
Seeing Consciously
Most leaders operate 24/7/365 from within their perspective. This Sight elevates their self-awareness to become mindful of what is occurring in their interior. They learn to see the assumptions they are making and the underlying beliefs that otherwise would unconsciously generate their conclusions, decisions and action. This gives them choice, the ability to entertain other perspectives and the powerful ability to step outside habitual thinking to see new possibilities.
Which of these benefits of vertical development will most help your leaders?
- Solve more complex challenges
- Become more innovative and creative
- Think further “outside-the-box”
- Model desired behavior more effectively
- Unleash performance in your people and organization
- Lead transformation more effectively
- Develop greater people and inter-personal skills
- Transform self-limiting mindsets and behavior
- Naturally promote social justice and environmental health
- Demonstrate greater respect for others and take a stand for diversity and inclusion
"Most positive impact on my leadership and personal life...”
"This isn't ordinary leadership development. It's clear how a leader can make a difference..."
"I learned leaders must change themselves to breakthrough...”
"Being First is beyond just being a company... They have changed my brain somehow...”
"The impact on our organization was enormous...”
“Being First guides leaders safely through the turbulence of leading change..."
WEBINAR Vertical Leadership Development: The Answer to Today's Organizational and Social Challenges
Vertical Leadership Development is critical for solving today’s organizational and social challenges. This webinar explores the different stages of development and how this approach provides leaders with the skills to:
- Handle greater complexity
- Stay centered and calm amid stress
- Perform optimally while navigating ambiguity
- Increase innovation, creativity and your ability to lead into the future
Instructor: Dr. Dean Anderson
Ready to develop your leaders vertically?
Let’s discuss how this approach can help you and your leaders solve your most complex challenges.
Give us a call:
- Or get started now by clicking the chat icon below.
