In the dynamic landscape of leadership development, a nuanced approach is essential for cultivating transformational leaders. This involves not just horizontal development – adding new knowledge, skills, or capabilities – but also embracing the transformative concept of vertical development.
In the dynamic landscape of leadership development, a nuanced approach is essential for cultivating transformational leaders. This involves not just horizontal development – adding new knowledge, skills, or capabilities, akin to installing apps on an iPad – but also embracing the transformative concept of vertical development. A pioneering initiative in this realm is the Argonauts Trust Circle, which is redefining leadership elevation based on the principles of vertical development and the progressive stages of mind development – Mind 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0.
Horizontal development is a familiar terrain in leadership enhancement. It’s about broadening a leader’s functionality, much like adding new apps to an iPad. This aspect covers acquiring new knowledge, skills, and capabilities. While crucial to empower transactional strengths of managers, it represents only one dimension of an effective leader’s growth.
Vertical development, however, is a game-changer. It transcends the mere addition of skills and delves into elevating a leader’s ability to interpret and engage with their world in more cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways. This is analogous to upgrading an iPad’s operating system rather than just its apps. Such an upgrade doesn’t just add functions; it enhances the device’s overall performance. The stages of Mind 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 represent this journey from a focus on IQ (Mind 1.0), through the integration of EQ (Mind 2.0), to the realization of collective intelligence or CQ (Mind 3.0).
The Argonauts Trust Circle is a groundbreaking platform that embodies the essence of vertical development. It provides a space for leaders to engage in deep, reflective conversations, nurturing an environment where they can challenge and be challenged in a safe and supportive setting. This space with its unique process acts as a crucible for transformative thinking, where leaders can explore and redefine their understanding of themselves and their roles in an ever complex world.
Understanding mindsets is key to vertical development. Leaders must ask how they make sense of their world. Do they perceive and interpret their environment in cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways? This is where the Argonauts Trust Circle comes in, consistently aiding leaders in their transition through the different mind levels, from defensive or transactional approaches (Mind 1.0) to emotionally intelligent responses (Mind 2.0), and ultimately to a level of collective wisdom (Mind 3.0). It essentially means to elevate our consciousness.
The COVID pandemic has drastically increased the complexity of the world, outpacing the vertical development of many leaders. Pre-COVID, leaders may have been well-equipped to handle their environment. However, the escalated complexity demands a more advanced level of leadership capability. Organizations are now recognizing the need for leaders who are not just knowledgeable and skilled but also sophisticated in their thinking and emotional responses, to become collaborative, empathetic leaders beyond their managing skills.
The journey of leadership development is not just about expanding what leaders know or can do (horizontal development) but crucially about evolving how they think and feel (vertical development). The Argonauts Trust Circle plays a pivotal role in this transformation, providing a unique platform for leaders to engage in meaningful self-reflection and interaction, thereby facilitating their transition to more advanced stages of cognitive and emotional sophistication. By focusing on upgrading the ‘operating systems’ of leaders – their mindsets and cognitive-emotional sophistication – we can equip them to navigate an increasingly complex world effectively.
It leads to a space where trust and purpose can be revitalized within the individual leader and throughout the organisation. Where transformational leaders on all levels of the organization reengage and bring alive an organizational culture in which individual purpose aligns with the mission of the company.
If your organization senses a gap in this area, the path forward involves a commitment to elevating leadership through vertical development with the support of initiatives like the Argonauts Trust Circle.
Stefan Beiten is the Initiator of The Argonauts. His essence is to inspire the human spirit in innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders worldwide. He supports change makers and paradigm shifters to empower others and be empowered by finding their own meaning outside of the story we are all born into.
