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The Leaders Growth Curve
The Leaders Growth Curve is a graphic model I use in coaching. Like all models, it’s a simplified depiction of a more complex reality, but it tells an important story. It maps nearly all leaders on to seven points on the curve and shows how most find themselves stuck on what I call the “leaders plateau”.
I use the Leaders Growth Curve with clients in two ways. First, to help them figure out where they stand in their growth as leaders. Second, to help them decide what position they want to reach.
Research
What did I base the Leaders Growth Curve on? I used five sources of data:
- Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” research in the late 1990s.
- The people I met during my 28 years in industry before becoming an executive coach.
- Clients I’ve worked with in my 16 years (5000+ hours) as a professional coach to leaders.
- The Center for Creative Leadership’s research into why successful executives derail.
- Gallup’s research into the connection between engagement and business results.
The Four Dimensions of Leadership: New Video Series
When I consider all my ideas, models, tools and processes, I can classify them into three learning blocks. I call them Mental Model Mastery, Self-Mastery and Know-How Mastery.
This post focuses on the first learning block – Mental Model Mastery – and a new 10-part video series I’ve just released on my YouTube channel, The Leadership Mastery Suite. Continue reading →
Measuring the Results of Executive Coaching
I posted an article on LinkedIn three days ago that’s getting a fair bit of attention. It’s titled, “Executive Coaching That Makes a Difference”.
It shows how I measure the before-and-after results of my coaching with leaders, using ideas and tools from The Three Levels of Leadership. I introduce what I call the Dual Perspectives analysis with a real-life example using two graphs.
I thought it might interest readers of this blog. So here’s a link to the article: Executive Coaching That Makes a Difference.
The author is James Scouller, an executive coach. The second edition of his book, The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill, was published in September 2016. You can learn more about it at www.three-levels-of-leadership.com. If you want to see its reviews, click here: leadership book reviews. If you want to know where to buy it, click HERE. You can read more about his executive coaching services at The Scouller Partnership’s website.
Two New Books to Come…
I want to apologise for not having posted a blog for four months. It’s because my attention has been elsewhere. More specifically, it’s been on completing the second edition of The Three Levels of Leadership (due out at the end of May 2016) and on starting my long-awaited second book, which will be on teams.
For those of you wondering “Why a second edition of ‘Three Levels’?” here’s what I’ve written in the new book’s preface: Continue reading →
Are We Serious About Growing Leaders?
In industry, do we take the challenge of growing future leaders seriously? I don’t think we do and here’s why… Continue reading →
Responsibility and Leadership
Over the last five years, many leaders have told me stories about performance issues with a colleague. In essence, the person isn’t performing well and the leader is unhappy about it. I’ll usually ask them what they’ve already tried and they’ll either tell me they haven’t raised the issue, or they have, but they’ve used vague language and not said what they really wanted to say. Either way, the underperformance continues because they’ve avoided the problem.
When I ask why they typically say, “I can’t do or say so-and-so because he/she will feel hurt or they will lose confidence.” When I probe further, the truth eventually emerges: Continue reading →
What One Thing Would Help Leaders With Presence?
I received this question on my YouTube channel in response to the video, “What is Presence?“: What one thing do you think would help leaders with presence? I couldn’t answer it fully on YouTube as I was limited to 500 characters, so here’s my full answer…
“It depends what you mean by presence (sometimes referred to as leadership presence or executive presence). Do you mean real presence or what looks like presence?
What I mean by “presence” is something no one can fake. It’s the real you, embodied, in action. But “charisma”, as I explain in the second video in the series, “Presence versus Charisma“, is different. I use the term charisma to mean faked presence. Charisma can mimic presence, but it’s usually found out either because of the charismatic person’s negative effect on others or because he/she crumbles under pressure.
I’ll assume you mean real presence. Now your question was, “What one thing do you think would help leaders with presence?” Continue reading →
The Four Keys To Becoming A Good Leader
I wrote an article elsewhere about the 4 keys to becoming the best leader you can be. You could say it’s a high-level summary of my leadership book, The Three Levels of Leadership. It’s too long to fit in this blog, but the 4 keys are:
(1) Have a clear practical definition of leadership (many of us have a fuzzy, unhelpful view of it).
(2) Know the purpose of a leader (because “leader” and “leadership” aren’t the same thing). Continue reading →
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