In my last couple entries I have covered two of the three key mindsets that adults gravitate towards as they develop.  In doing so I have highlighted the fundamental belief systems that drive these mindsets, looked at these orientations at their worst and best as well as shined the light on how one with those orientations can direct their development towards higher and more effective expressions.  In this entry we will explore “The Relater“.

For The Relater – being liked and admired is everything. They can work very hard to bend into the type of person others want them to be.  They can very much become chameleons – constantly adjusting to the environment so that they comply.  Their great value is that they can reduce conflict, keep the organization’s eye on people issues and are strong at building teaming environments.  In their most reactive stance they are very compliant and the tool they use to achieve power is passive aggressiveness.  Bob Anderson’s research has shown that compliance is one of the most destructive behaviors to organizational performance ^(more…)

As stated in my entry on August 5th – development as a human being is not stagnant after a certain age.  We have untold potential to rise to higher and higher states of awareness.  As we grow we have the ability to find greater levels of success and fulfillment as well as the capacity to lead ourselves and others through increasingly complex situations.  Just like a snow flake or set of finger prints, each of us has our own unique expression through which we approach achieving achievement, people and our own personal fulfillment.  We come into the work place with our own special talents as well as achilles heels.  That being said, recent research by Bob Anderson of The Leadership Circle – as well as years of research done in the leadership and human development field – has shown that at a high level there are three primary mindsets that human beings take on as they move into adulthood.  While we each of us has contact with all three – most of us will lean heavily in one direction.

I have labeled these three orientations as:

• The Achiever
• The Intellectual
• The Relater

In our last entry we took a deeper look at the key qualities and the leveraged developmental path for The Achiever.  In this entry we will examine The Intellectual. (more…)

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  For the Achiever - Winning is Everything!
  As indicated in my last entry, the development of leadership capacity in an individual is an issue of human development.  In other words, leaders are not born they are made.  Yet, just as one size does not fit all – there is no one style of leadership that fits everyone.  By understanding specific developmental pathways and how they related to leadership enables us to help executive leaders add velocity towards increasing their leadership impact.

In short, the pathway of development into a strong executive leader involves moving from a more reactive stance to one that is more proactive and creative.  It is an issue of evolving and transforming into higher orders of who you already are.  There are three primary developmental orientations: ¹:

• The Achiever
• The Intellectual
• The Relate

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The purpose of this next series of entries is to provide a practical view of the key pathways of development for executive leaders. Earlier entries in this blog have acknowledged that we are in an exciting time in the executive development field.  A very clear development pathway has been defined along with proven processes for increasing the impact of executive leadership.  If after scanning this entry you are interested in more background for this article you can refer to these previous entries:

• The Truth About Leadership Development
• The Last Obstacle to Executive Development = The Executive

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. (more…)