Super Charged Executive Development – Introduction
August 5th, 2009 by David Utts
At the root of all this innovation is the confirmation that as adults we continue to develop our mindset and consciousness as we move through life. The work of Robert Kegan, Lawrence Kohlberg, Ken Wilber, Sara N. Ross, William R. Torbert and Bob Anderson and others has shown the strong connection between a particular stage of adult development and the competencies of leadership. In short, it has strengthened the concept that leadership develop is really about human development.
All of this furthers the case that leaders are not born but rather are developed as they increase their awareness and move to a stage of development that contains a leadership mindset/operating system. Once this “upgrade” in the operating system occurs – leadership competencies naturally boot up. Therefore the executive development process is not primarily about skill development but rather the focus is on the expansion of awareness.
Bob Anderson’s research at The Leadership Circle has shown that the stage of development prior to leadership is far more reactive than the leadership stage. In addition, the behaviors and mind sets found in this reactive stage closely mirrors those that executive coaches and development experts must deal with in order to support the development process of most leaders.
When you think about it, every executive leader has been an individual contributor at some time in their career. For the most part, the strong accomplishments made as an individual contributor usually leads to a series of promotions that ultimately has brought the individual to the executive level. Unfortunately, the approach that supported the executive’s success at the individual contributor level do not smoothly translate to success at the leadership level. The biggest quandary executives face in the leadership development process is having to let go of out dated strategies and approaches that have worked for them while they work to take on new ways of thinking and approaching work that they do not have full confidence in and that may fly in the face of their previous views.
Yet, the old adage of “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater” is true for executive development. This is because the seeds of great leadership ultimately lie in the unique nature of each leader and their reactive tendencies provide pathways for development into leadership. Therefore the goal of executive development is to help the leader embrace their own natural ways while transmuting their mindset and approach to a more powerful level of expression.
The rest of this series will focus on three fundamental reactive approaches that most adults find themselves utilizing as they move into adulthood and ultimately the work force. These fundamental types are 1:
- The Achiever
- The Intellectual
- The Relater
Each of these come with their own unique set of fundamental desires and beliefs as well as approaches to working with people and getting things done. Yet, while it is useful to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves – what is most important is learning what supports your orientation grow in their impact as a leader. In my next entry, I will begin by focusing on The Achiever.
References:
Seven Transformations of Leadership by and
- adapted from the work of Bob Anderson of The Leadership Circle ↩
Tags: adult development, executive development, Leadership Development, Trends
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