What Develops in Vertical Development?
Our awareness of ourselves (I), our capacity for relationship and connectedness (We) and our ability to manage ourselves and influence the systems in which we operate (It). At our most developed we are adept and agile in each of these three domains: (‘I’, ‘We’ and ‘It’) and between them.
Taking each of these domains in turn, starting with self-awareness, there are many things to work on. So what are the things I could know about myself?
The ‘I’ Domain
- My personality tendencies. The best researched construct in personality science, ‘The Five Factor Model’, suggests there are 5 main scales (and many sub-scales) on which each of us find ourselves. There is a lot we can discover about our personality which will increase our self-awareness and impact upon our development.
- My attachment style. One of the best researched and measured theories in psychology, Attachment Theory, suggests that the strategies I used when I was a new born to have my needs met in response to the circumstances in which I found myself are strategies I continue to use in relationships throughout my life! Knowing more about this and how it plays out can be really interesting!
- My intelligences and they are multiple (such as they are!!). IQ, EQ (interpersonal), Social Intelligence, linguistic ability, logical-mathematical, musical, proprioception, spatial-visual, introception, introspection, and the list goes on. Many of these are developable, we can get better at them.
- My current knowledge base. What I know plays a significant role in how I ‘make meaning’ on an on-going basis. Awareness of the limitations of my knowledge (Relative to all there is to be known, I know little.) is critical if I am prepared to engage with it. If I make meaning based purely on what I know I am leveraging inductive reasoning only but I can develop a capacity for deductive reasoning which allows me to make meaning using what I know in addition to emerging evidence and knowledge I didn’t previously have.
- My Values. What are they and where did I get them? Our values are usually picked up in early childhood, we are born into to them. Most of us don’t have values, rather our values have us, we are subject to them. Like a puppet hand inside of us they dictate our actions until we become aware and then our values are object to us which can give us choice.
- My Beliefs. Similar to my Values I was born into a belief system. Being born in Ireland in the 60’s where the predominant belief system was Catholic, that’s what I ended up with. Of course I know that if I was born somewhere else at a different time I would have different beliefs but like my Values I get what I get and am mostly stuck with that unless I become ‘aware’. Even when I do become aware of the lottery of belief, its difficult to leave the belief system behind because its bound up with my belonging. While I may no longer believe its much more difficult to decide not to belong anymore so my desire to belong reinforces my belief.
- My culture, like the other accidents of my birth, gifts me with certain perspectives and behaviours and my history plays a big part in how I show up today.
- My current circumstances and their power and influence over me may shape how I show up tomorrow.
- My Level of Development. How do I make meaning every day and how does my meaning lead to action? What actions am I likely to take based on my current meaning making? Using a tool such as the Leadership Development Profile can help me understand the current centre of gravity of my meaning making. If I am on a journey of development then a map of the territory is bound to be useful!!
We are constantly moving, changing and being changed by our circumstances. We can proactively play a role in how this happens by deepening our awareness of all of the above and other aspects of our individuality.
The ‘We’ Domain.
The domain of relationships and interconnectedness. How am I in this domain. What can I learn about myself here. We are born to connect, it is central to being human.
- Perspective taking. How well do I understand the perspectives of others. This depends on my emotional intelligence and particularly my capacity for empathy. Can I imagine how other people feel? Can I name that and call it out to people? Do I practice this?
- Relating and Presence. How do I relate to others? Do I tend to move towards others, away from others or against others? How do people experience me? How could I be better here?
- Following, Leading and Collaborating. Do I favour following others, operating independently to achieve or working collaboratively leveraging a combination of following and leading?
- My needs in relationship. What do I need from my relationships? Who do I relate to? What kind of relationships do I not have? How to I build relationships? What do I want to do about all this?
The ‘It’ Domain.
My Systems Perspective. How broad is my systems perspective. When I look at a tree do I just see a tree or have I appreciation for the complexity of the system the tree represents. Its root system, its support for nesting birds, the many insects that live in, around and beneath the tree. The way the tree is connected to other trees, plants and fungi in it’s eco system.
Systems Influence. How do I influence the systems I am part of? What if I were more courageous about this? Am I wilfully blind to things in the systems I am part of? What do I attend to? What am I blind to?
In Summary
The answer to my original question, what changes when we develop Vertically is, some or all of the above (and all I haven’t mentioned, or all I am unaware I could have mentioned!).
We are complex and ever changing as humans. One thing I have come to appreciate in my work as a developmental coach is recognising the value in not seeing ourselves as ‘problems to be solved’ rather seeing ourselves as ‘emerging potentialities’ that need to be nurtured, cared for and scaffolded to create the optimum conditions for our emergence and development.
Thanks for reading!
Addendum
I got a nice compliment from Kim Gregory to the above piece: ‘A comprehensive, expansive perspective on the range and depth of human potential and development: the enablers, the challenges, the joys. Thanks Nial.’
In response I wrote: ‘Thanks Kim Gregory however its only as comprehensive as the limitations of what I know, my ability to access that and what I can write in such a short piece!’
I thought these comments worth adding as an addendum!
