Vertical Leadership Development - FEAL · 2015 FEAL Forum HR Masterclass ... strategic advantage. catalysts for transformation page ... Vertical Leadership Development

Vert ical Leadership Development2015 FEAL Forum HR Masterclass

presented by Dr Richard Harmer

catalysts for t ransformat ion

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FEAL HR Forum Masterclass | Vertical Leadership Development

presented by Dr Richard Harmer ([email protected])

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Vertical Leadership Development:

An approach to leadership development designed to create

strategic advantage

mailto:[email protected]?subject=


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Session overview

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WHY WHAT HOWWHAT NOW



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4

WHY



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Why vert ical development, why now?

“ … the constantly changing

demands of modern life may be

developmentally inappropriate

for many—perhaps even most—

adults.”

- Robert Kegan

(Constructive-Developmental Psychologist)5



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Trends in technology adoption (USA)

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Telephone Radio

Telephone = 65 years to 80% adoption

Radio = 15 years to 80% adoption

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Telephone Radio Computer Colour TV VCR

Computer = 60 years to 80% adoption

Colour TV = 20 years to 80% adoption

VCR = 15 years to 80% adoption

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Telephone Radio Computer Colour TV VCR Mobile Phone Internet Mobile Internet

Mobile Phone = 18 years to 80% adoption

Internet = 13 years to 80% adoption

Mobile Internet = 15 years to 80% adoption

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Complexity and the changing context of work

Industrial Age (the last 300 years)

Information Age (the last 30 years)

Economic PhilosophyWealth originates

from machines (owned by few)

Wealth originates from (hardware, software &

socialware) technology

Key Economic Driver Differentiation through manufacturing and equipment

Differentiation though problem solving ability

Coordination of Labour Work done locally and all year long

Work done globally and in 24-hour cycles

Modes Of Organising Promotes the idea of the organisation

Promotes the idea of mass integration

Modes Of Operation Complicated: thrives on linear

Complex: thrives on non-linear

Performance Measures What a person does (frequency and consistency)

How a person identifies what to do (agility and responsiveness)

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The consequences of complexity

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Role Level (N = 512)

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Ability of Current Day Leaders

Complexity of Current Day Task Demands

• Extensive research

undertaken by US based

developer and distributor of

cognitive developmental

assessments, LECTICA, clearly

shows that in the past 20

years (regardless of industry)

the task demands of four

levels of leadership now

exceed the cognitive

capacity of leaders

undertaking those roles.

• Today’s leaders are literally

“in over their heads”.Source: Lectica (https://dts.lectica.org/_about/showcase.php?instrument_id=LDMA)

The Complexity Gap


https://dts.lectica.org/_about/showcase.php?instrument_id=LDMA


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What is your experience?

Consider an important goal or task you want to achieve at work, a goal or task where

you know what you are seeking to accomplish but have not yet been able to

implement it successfully.

• What is the goal/task and why is this goal or task important to you at this time?

• What does success look like to you for this goal/task?

• What approaches have you already tried in seeking to accomplish your goal/task?

• What actions are you personally undertaking (or not undertaking) that directly (or

indirectly) get in the way of you accomplishing your important goal/task?

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12

WHAT



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Vert ical Development

• The complexity of the task before the child outweighs the

child’s capacity to solve the challenge - they are not yet

capable of understanding the concept of Volume.

• The child is subject to the Complexity Gap.13

Jean Piaget Cognitive Developmental Psychologist



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Horizontal & Vert ical Development

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Horizontal Development Vertical Development

• Horizontal Development relates to a person’s

mastery of a set of skills - horizontal

development improves what a person does.

• Vertical Development relates to the

advancement in a person’s thinking capacity

about what they might do.

• Horizontal Development is about skills

acquisition and how a leader demonstrates

their competence for a specific skills domain.

• Vertical Development is about how a leader

thinks about the complexity they face, and

the agility in which they respond to that

complexity.

• The outcome of horizontal stage

development is a leader will have the ‘tools’

to do what they are doing with more

efficiency.

• The outcome of vertical stage development

is the ability to think in more complex,

systemic, strategic, and interdependent

ways.



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Vert ical vs Horizontal Development

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Horizontal Development Vertical Development

• Horizontal Development relates to a person’s

mastery of a set of skills - horizontal

development improves what a person does.

• Vertical Development relates to the

advancement in a person’s thinking capacity

about what they might do.

• Horizontal Development is about skills

acquisition and how a leader demonstrates

competence for a specific skills domain.

• Vertical Development is about how a leader

thinks about the complexity they face, and

the agility in which they respond to that

complexity.

• The outcome of horizontal stage

development is a leader will have the ‘tools’

to do what they are doing with more

effectively and/or efficiently.

• The outcome of vertical stage development

is the ability to think in more complex,

systemic, strategic, and interdependent

ways.



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Vert ical Development: Key Concepts

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Socialised Mind

Self-Authoring Mind

Integrated Mind

Mindset/Stance Dependence

Scarcity Win-Lose

Mindset/Stance Independence

Opportunity Win-Win

Mindset/Stance Inter-Dependence

Abundance Win-Win-Win

Working IN The Business

Working ON The Business

TRANSFORMING The Business



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Leader Effect iveness and Agi l i ty

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Opportunist Impulsive

~ 5%

Conformist Rule-Bound

~ 12%

Expert Specialist

~ 38%

Achiever Conscientious

~ 30%

Catalyst Individualist

~10%

Co-Creative Strategist

~ 4%

Synergist Construct-Aware

~ 1%

Unitive Cross-Paradigmatic

~ 0.5%



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Example responses

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Leadership …

Opportunist “The boss.”

Conformist “The person in charge.”

Expert “Is something I want to do.”

Achiever “Is something I enjoy and aspire to be very good at, whether as a team or an organisation. “

Catalyst “Is an easy to use term but hard to achieve - good leaders have an instinctive innate ability so it doesn't really get taught - just moulded.”

Co-Creative “Is contextual as a leader’s role is to enable the organisational and cultural for the majority to shine and for the minority to have a voice.”

Construct-Aware “Good question! An often overused term in our society used by the powerful few maintain their status over the many in the name of some ‘greater good’ which often turns out to be themselves.”

Unitive “Is an expression of all potentiality of all moments witnessed into this moment.”



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What is your experience?

Consider your important goal or task.

• How might the Leadership Effectiveness and Agility Framework inform

how you may be engaging with your important goal/task?

• How might the Leadership Effectiveness and Agility Framework highlight

where you are ‘really stuck’?

• What does the Leadership Effectiveness and Agility Framework highlight

to you about how you might best proceed with your important goal/task

going forward?19



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HOW



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Tension is the fuel for vert ical growth

Assimilation

Fit New Practice To Present Theory

• Create a level of cognitive dissonance

(‘tension’) that requires an individual to

actively seek out new knowledge, skills and/or

experiences (KSEs) to ‘fill out’ a pre-existing

understanding of how to best succeed for a

given context.

• Incorporate newly identified external KSEs into

pre-existing internal mental models.

Accommodation

Fit New Theory To Present Practice

• Create a level of cognitive dissonance

(‘tension’) (that is so great) that it invites, even

forces, an individual to suspend a pre-existing

understanding of a given context and identify

completely new ways of interpreting that

context and its successful navigation.

• Develop completely new internal mental

models that ‘reimagine’ existing and newly

identified external KSE.

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How is Vert ical Leadership developed?

• Nick Petrie, Senior Faculty Member for the

Centre For Creative Leadership, Colorado

Springs.

• In 2014, Nick conducted 30 interviews with

experts and practitioners around the world

who were recognised as leaders in the

field of vertical leadership development.

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Key f indings

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Step #1 Turn Up

The Heat

Step #2 Collide

Perspectives

Step #3 Elevate

Sense-Making

1. Nothing changes if nothing changes,

BUT too much tension for change can

result in leaders getting burnt-out.

2. In the heat of change, new

perspectives cannot be considered

(and assimilated) if new perspectives

are not provided.

3. Current and new experiences cannot

be reimagined (and

accommodated) without a more

comprehensive ‘map’ for interpreting

the territory.



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Designing programs for Vert ical Leadership Development

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Heat Experiences (The What)

Colliding Perspectives (The Who)

Elevated Sense-making (The How)

1. Create “heat seeking” leaders. 1. Get leaders out into the field to create frame-breaking experiences.

1. Provide leaders with vertical stage maps to diagnose issues, and review their leadership.

2. Foster a culture of developmental ‘risk taking’.

2. Utilise peer consulting processes to expose leaders to thought diversity.

2. Ensure all coaches working with leaders are also able to coach with a vertical lens.

3. Give assignments to the least qualified person.

3. Teach leaders Action Inquiry (deep listening, collaborative inquiry).

3. Match high potentials with late stage mentors.

4. Manufacture ‘tension’ in the classroom.

4. Create opportunities for leaders to practice polarity thinking.

4. Ensure the organisation’s most senior leaders also engage in Vertical Development.

5. Support leaders to uncover their Immunity To Change.

5. Utilise team-based organisational dilemmas to enhance leaders’ systems literacy and collective agility.

5. Provide leaders with adequate reflection time, supported by regular meditation or mindfulness practice.



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WHAT NOW



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Bridging the Complexity Gap

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Leaders’ Current Day Ability/Capacity


The Complexity Gap



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The Goldi locks Zone

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Leaders’ Current Day Ability/Capacity


Zones of Optimal Development



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Creat ing your Vert ical Leadership Development Toolkit

• The Virtuous Cycle of Learning (VCoL+7) developed by Lectica

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1. Reflectivity - cultivating the habit of reflecting upon outcomes, emotions, or events.

2. Mindfulness, emotional regulation , and self monitoring.

3. Critical reasoning - seeking and evaluating information.

4. Systems thinking - making connections between ideas, information, perspectives, and evidence.

5. Applying knowledge for real world impact.

6. Seeking and using feedback.

7. Address your habitual biases - identifying and addressing cognitive and behavioural biases.

Deep dive into VCoL+7 at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zhrUZ24WR8&feature=youtu.be


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zhrUZ24WR8&feature=youtu.be


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THANK YOU



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Dr Richard Harmer

CEO, The Holos Group

• Office +61 3 9016 9663

• Mobile +61 409 323 062

• Email [email protected]

• CoTap cotap.me/richard

• Skype richardjharmer

• Twitter @richardharmer | @theholosgroup

• Web www.theholosgroup.com

Contact detai ls



http://www.theholosgroup.com

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Vertical Leadership Development - FEAL · 2015 FEAL Forum HR Masterclass ... strategic advantage. catalysts for transformation page ... Vertical Leadership Development