While we are not out of the woods yet and still need to focus on job creation – the economy seems to be in a steady recovery with more growth expected by the middle of this year.  The question that will start being asked is where is the most leveraged place for us to invest now that business is getting better?   Well, I have what might appear to be a self-serving response to that – focus on developing the capacity of your executives and key emerging leaders!  I do not care who you hire to do this as long as they are worth their weight and have proven processes that will enhance the impact of your leaders.

When done well – development has a very direct return on investment.  One of my earliest entries provides a first step in determining your leadership development strategy.   The key is to be targeted in your approach and to hold who ever works with you accountable for real measurable results.  But when done well – the research shows the value of investment:

• Booz Allen Hamilton’s own research shows a 650% return on investment from their executive coaching program ¹

• Extraordinary leaders generate four times the results over good leaders in areas like profitability, employee loyalty and customer retention ²

If you have no real strategy or leadership development program – find yourself a seasoned and results-focused executive coach and take a test drive!  If the coach is worth their weight – the leader being coached should be generating results greater than your development investment within 90 days as long as you have also picked the right executive to develop (see our blog article on the one remaining stumbling block in executive development).

Yes, the past year was tough and we are not out of the woods yet AND the ones who will get you out of the woods faster are your executives – especially when they have the principles and critical approaches that only a great executive coach can provide.

Ah the age old question. Our stand is that it is a little of both. Recent research done by Bob Anderson at The Leadership Circle has shown a direct link between a particular stage of adult development and the orientation of a true leader. In short, this means you’re your leadership development is directly related to your level of development as a human being. Leadership is not primarily about skill development. It is about developing a powerful creative mindset that when adopted allows for a new set of skills to naturally boot up into that new creative operating system.

The question then becomes can we expedite the human development process? We believe it is possible but it requires an individual to start addressing some deeper questions about who they are, why they are here and what they most want to influence manifesting around them. To determine if you are prepared to take those questions seriously you must first consider the following questions: (more…)

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…)

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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…)