Introduction
In part two of our four blog series on vertical development, we argued for the importance of a vertical development approach in organisations. For an explanation of vertical development, please read part one of the series.
Before we move on to parts three and four of the series, and address when and how to do vertical development, we wanted to publish this bonus blog, providing some case study stories to illustrate why vertical development is so important.
If you are curious about vertical leadership development and how it could help your leaders, please do get in touch, we’d love to talk.
Defining vertical development
Vertical development is about developing deeper, more comprehensive
and complex ways of making sense of and operating in the world.
Vertical development is about learning to see the world through a different lens and having the flexibility to challenge the interpretations and meanings that we ascribe to life experiences. It helps individual to move from a worldview that is heavily influenced by social norms, to one that can see nuance and take alternative perspectives.
Why is vertical development important?
Many of the abilities expected of leaders are not developed through horizontal development. Knowing more frameworks or models is of limited value in equipping leaders to, for example:
- Navigate complexity and ambiguity
- Manage diverse teams while creating inclusion and equity
- Make tough decisions on limited information
- Lead teams through change
So it is critical for organisations to take a vertical development approach: to provide development opportunities that equip individuals with the psychological flexibility to develop deeper, more comprehensive and complex ways of making sense of and operating in the world.
Why offer vertical development?
In part two of our blog series, we argue that vertical development is important because:
- Your leaders are more than just what they can do for your organisation
- The leadership development that you offer shapes the leaders that you get
- The leaders you develop define the culture that you build
Here are three examples of situations where vertical leadership development is critical:
1. The leader who gets frustrated
Imagine a leader in your business, let’s call him Alan. He’s a highly competent and capable leader of one of the largest divisions of the organisation. He regularly exceeds his targets, builds loyal, motivated teams and advocates for inclusion. He’s really creative and driven, able to see what needs to be done, creates momentum and makes things happen.
He’s also someone who gets frustrated when people around him can’t see his vision, don’t move as fast as he wants, or put up barriers or push back for reasons that he disagrees with. And he doesn’t have the psychological flexibility to find different ways of being / acting when he’s frustrated. Under stress, he reverts to type and shows his frustration by being short, snappy, becoming more demanding, even raising his voice.
If he were in your organisation, what would you do?
A horizontal development approach might be to start a 360 feedback process – gather some data to convince him that he needs to manage his frustration differently. Or perhaps to offer him coaching, where he could reflect on the impact of how he expresses his frustration and make a plan to be more patient and try to listen more.
But what else have you got? If those things don’t work, then you’re probably managing him out.
What if you were able to offer vertical development? What if you could equip him with tools that were about developing more flexible responses to his frustration. Being able to sit with uncomfortable emotions, stay open to other people’s perspectives and respond in a way that aligns to his values.
A vertical development approach would increase your likelihood of keeping Alan, and channelling his energy for the good of the organisation. It might even have prevented this situation from arising in the first place.
2. The division going through change
Imagine that the global sales division of your organisation is going through a big restructuring process. The whole division is impacted, reporting lines are changing and roles are being lost. At the same time, they have decided to implement new software to support the sales process.
The Global Sales Director comes to your L&D function and asks what support you can offer his leaders around the world to lead this change effectively.
What would your organisation have to offer?
Typically, most organisations will offer horizontal development interventions. Perhaps rolling out webinars and workshops to communicate the new vision and plan. Maybe training on how to develop a communication plan or key strategies for dealing with resistance. Or online learning to upskill the whole division to use the new software to its full potential.
All of these have value. In a world of change there’s information to be shared, and some people need to learn new skills.
But what you are doing is focusing on what you want your leaders to get done. You are not working on the who, the person, that shows up to lead the change.
Because when we ask leaders to drive change, its tough, messy work. We’re inherently asking them to have the psychological flexibility to sit with paradox. We want them to be ruthless, driving forward uncomfortable decisions at pace for the good of the organisation. But we also want them to be considerate and able to handle the uncomfortable emotions that accompany change, both their own and those of their teams.
Having vertical development interventions would allow your organisation more scope. You’d have ways to help leaders examine their own stories and reactions around change. To notice the beliefs that shape their need to push through regardless, or to push back when it gets difficult. You’d have tools and techniques to help leaders listen with curiosity to resistance, to sit with the conflict that emerges without needing to solve it, to open up to feedback without needing to defend.
A vertical development approach would give you leaders that can hold ambiguity and paradox, and still create momentum and followership.
3. The organisation seeking culture shift
Imagine an organisation that has identified a need to transform its traditional command and control culture in order to future proof the business. They decide to introduce servant leadership.
Servant leadership is a complex concept, where the leader positions themselves as a servant to the needs of their followers. Servant leaders lead by providing service to their followers, enabling them to perform to their best and achieve the goals of the business.
How would your organisation go about introducing this model of leadership?
An organisation that focuses on horizontal development will focus on what those leaders need to do. It will offer training on some of the key skills that servant leaders need: listening skills to listen deeply to the needs of followers, or coaching skills to take a coaching approach to get the most out of their team.
But the transformative shift required to truly be a servant leader is much deeper. It needs vertical development.
Leaders will need to value their own worth enough to step back from power and focus on empowering others instead? They will have to accept a loss of control and perfection. They’ll have to take risks and extend trust to their followers, even when that is uncomfortable and frustrating for them as an individual.
Vertical development supports a personal, internal shift within leaders that enables a wider, external shift in culture. Regardless the model that you might wish to use, vertical development helps leaders take perspective on their own strengths and weaknesses, actions and reactions, habits and tendencies. It provides tools to help manage the challenging emotions that come with acknowledging their shadow side. It equips leaders to move with purpose towards their values, even when it is uncomfortable or challenging.
A vertical development approach would give you leaders with the self-awareness and psychological flexibility to choose how they will shape culture.
Vertical development equips leaders differently
Vertical development is a way of developing leaders that allows them to have the psychological flexibility to dive deeper into who they are, and how they think and act as leaders. It is a way of developing the rich and complex individual, and freeing them up to be the leader they already are.
Reflecting on the ‘why’ of vertical development
This blog makes the case for the value of vertical development. What thoughts or reflections has it prompted for you? You might like to consider the following questions:
- What do you need the leaders of your organisation to do more or differently?
- How effective is horizontal development in equipping them to do that?
- What possibilities do you think a vertical development approach could create?
If you missed it, our first blog gave a more in-depth explanation of the ‘what’ of vertical development. This series will continue with two more blogs to explore the ‘when’ and ‘how’. If you have specific questions that you want us to address, please do get in touch.
