This month we invite you to join us as we explore the connection between our development as a leader and our development as an adult.
Our level of development determines our level of impact as leaders. It shapes how we see the world and what we pay attention to, how we interact with others, how we deal with ambiguity and the meaning we make from our experiences.
In this blog we start this journey by unpacking what we mean by ‘development’ and introducing the stages of adult development. In future blogs we will explore the different development levels in action and share practical strategies for our continued development journey as both adults and leaders.
Learning vs Developing
So let’s start by differentiating Learning from Development, or in our world, Horizontal Development from Vertical Development.
We all would have experienced moments where our knowledge and skills (our horizontal development) could only take us so far, and to progress a challenge or embrace an opportunity, we needed to change the lens through which we make meaning of our ‘reality’, or change the way we show up taking ourselves away from what is comfortable and familiar. This more challenging kind of change or growth is called vertical development.
Robert Kegan, renowned professor at Harvard University and Adult Development authority, highlights “The field of leadership development has overattended to leadership [knowledge and skills]and underattended to development. An endless stream of books tries to identify the most important elements of leadership and help leaders to acquire these abilities. Meanwhile, we ignore the most powerful source of ability: our capacity to overcome the limitations and blind spots of current ways of making meaning”
And this is the focus of this month’s conversation - to understand the meaning making capacity in each of our stages of adult development, appreciate which stage we and the people we lead are operating at, explore how each stage impacts our ability to lead and, most importantly, share the conditions that enable our vertical development.
Stages of Adult Development
As Bob Anderson, Co-Founder of the Leadership Circle shares “All of us develop through a series of sequential stages of adult development that are universal and invariant. With each developmental stage, leadership can be more effective amid greater complexity. To ignore this reality is to jeopardize our efforts to transform organizations and develop effective leaders. No organization can organize at a higher level of performance than the consciousness of its leadership. Deep systemic change occurs only if we can become the change we want to see.”
But what is consciousness? Consciousness, in this context, is the lens through which we see the world, our mindset and the filters that shape our perception of reality reflected in our deepest values and assumptions. Consciousness is not WHAT we know, but HOW we use what we know.
Our level of consciousness is determined by our stage of development. Keagan presents five stages of development, the first 2 stages occur within childhood and adolescent, whilst the last 3 stage describes adult development which we outline below.
In order for us to move up or grow through the stages, we need to experience and appreciate the limitations of the stage we are currently in and be resourced to do the work to develop into the next stage. The good news is that this is a journey of expansion – we carry the learnings of our earlier stages with us as we ‘grow up’.
Socialised Mind – 3rd Stage
The growth hallmark of the Socialised Mind stage of development is the ability to hold focus on both our needs and the needs and feeling of others. This represents an evolution from the earlier adolescence stage where we are mostly preoccupied with our own needs.
Having left adolescence, this is a period in our lives where we build our careers and establish our place in society driven by external expectations and in that process attach and identify our sense of self to our roles, strengths, achievements, relationships, and personality. Our focus is on safety as we prioritise meeting societal expectations and conforming or reacting to external demands, putting a lot of effort into creating a perception about ourselves that others are expecting to see. It’s fair to say that most of this conditioning is unconscious, expressed through thinking and behavioural patterns to keep us safe, included or in control.
Most adults are at this stage and stay here, limited by our focus on the opinions and expectations of others.
Self-Authoring Mind – 4th Stage
The growth hallmark of the Self-Authoring Mind is the ability to step back from our external social conditioning and focus internally, establishing an internal belief system, an independent identity and sense of self that directs our decisions.
At this stage, we are able to evaluate the opinions and expectations of our circles and choose a response according to our own inner compass. We are more involved in creating our identity and become the ‘authors’ of our lives as we realise that our future and self-esteem are not determined by others and recognise we are more than our roles, our achievements or our relationships.
A more independent and resilient mindset is fostered by the prominence of autonomy and a sense of personal responsibility.
Self-Transforming Mind – 5th Stage
At this highest stage of adult development ,we can recognise the constraints of our self-authored inner system and embrace the notion that diverse ideologies can peacefully coexist, holding a more expanded and interconnected worldview. From this place we can hold contradictions, work with ambiguity, navigate paradoxes, and constantly seek to understand and integrate different perspectives.
In other words, we value our worldview, but we hold it lightly, appreciating that no single view holds the complete picture of the truth. At this stage complexity is viewed as a chance for development and understanding rather than a threat and we engage in the ongoing process of self-discovery, learning and adaptation.
According to Kegan only those that develop an independent identity and sense of self and are so detached from that sense of self that they are open and flexible to change it, have reached this stage.
Our transition and growth through the stages of development is not a learning journey focused on what we know, rather it is a vertical development journey of uncovering and expanding who we are and how we see the world. This is a journey that takes courage and compassion and is best done in community.
Reflecting on the stages of adult development;
· Where are you on your journey? What level are you currently operating at?
· What are you noticing about the consciousness level of those you lead?
Join us in our next blog as we explore what leadership looks like in action at the different stages of development.
Photo by Mathilda Khoo on Unsplash
