Most leadership programmes focus on adding knowledge, tools and skills. But today’s world is full of ambiguity, paradox, rapid change and increasing human complexity. Leaders aren’t struggling because they lack information—they’re struggling because the old ways of making sense of the world are no longer enough.
What leaders need now isn’t more content. They need transformation.
Vertical development is the key to unlock a deeper leadership capacity to choose, in the moment, what is workable and needed for a complex world. But it is uncomfortable work.
Move leaders beyond the limits of their current meaning-making
Not only is today’s environment challenging for leaders to navigate, but as they progress in their career, they increasingly face challenges that can’t be solved by more expertise. They must somehow learn to:
- navigate complexity and ambiguity
- make decisions without full information
- manage diverse individuals and the psychology of teams
- lead others through conflict and change
- hold paradoxes and competing priorities
Vertical development equips leaders with the inner capacity to meet these demands – not by giving them new answers, but by expanding their capacity to hold more weight, more nuance, more complexity.
What vertical development changes
Leadership development would be much easier if vertical growth followed a straightforward formula. But it doesn’t. Leaders grow unevenly, and development occurs across many relatively independent areas: cognitive complexity, perspective-taking, systems thinking, self-awareness, self-regulation, power, wisdom and more.
So there is no single bucket called “vertical development content.” Effective growth focuses on specific aspects.
At Becoming International, our work is grounded in the constructive development tradition of Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey. Through this lens, vertical development is about helping leaders step back from previously unquestioned assumptions—about themselves, others and how the world works.
This shift allows leaders to act from their own values, rather than being driven by old habits, fears or expectations. They develop:
- adaptability
- authenticity
- the ability to question their own assumptions
It’s powerful, liberating work—but not necessarily easy.
The myth of the effortless, vertically developed leader
However, vertical development does not necessarily lead to an easy leadership life. Picture your cohort of vertically developed leaders:
- They show up as their authentic self at work. We expect this to feel exhilarating and free.
- They set boundaries and handle ambiguity and conflict in the team. They must have developed a sense of ease in these situations.
- They empower their team through word and action. Surely this comes naturally now?
- They connect to bigger pictures and see wider systems. They must feel a sense of calm in the face of challenge.
But this isn’t how growth works.
Vertical development is uncomfortable
The truth is, doing and living vertical development makes the job of leading harder and more uncomfortable.
Vertical development doesn’t remove the basic human needs to belong, stay safe or make sense of the world. Even the most developed leaders still experience difficult thoughts and feelings.
Vertically developed or not:
- Showing up as our true selves can still make us feel self-conscious or embarrassed.
- Setting boundaries and handling conflict can still create a knot in our stomach or a fear of what will happen next.
- Empowering the team still has the power to make us worried or fearful of being irrelevant.
- Taking perspective on bigger systemic challenges doesn’t negate an old pattern of wanting to offer solutions to fix the problem.
The bad news is –the uncomfortable thoughts and emotions don’t disappear.
Vertical development is not a ticket for an easier leadership life.
It’s like the athletes I work with as a Sport Psychologist: when they build more power or speed, the training doesn’t get easier. They’ve simply increased their capacity to perform at the next level. The discomfort is still there—however much better their sporting outcomes have become.
Learning to be comfortable with discomfort
What vertical development does change is our relationship with difficult thoughts and feelings.
It’s not about suppressing discomfort or eliminating our inner challenges. It’s about cultivating greater freedom, flexibility and choice—so leaders can respond in the moment to what is needed, rather than reacting from habit, fear or avoidance.
Vertical development doesn’t place people on a higher plane or protect them from the pains of leadership. It helps them have the psychological flexibility to hold nuance, tolerate paradox and stay grounded while navigating complexity.
It isn’t an end point. It’s a way of living and leading with more purpose, presence and humanity—for ourselves and the people we work with.
