In a world that is volatile and fast-changing, just adding more skills isn’t enough. Leaders need to expand how they think—evolving their capacity to see patterns, hold multiple perspectives and act with discernment in ambiguity. That is the promise of vertical leadership development: it grows a leader’s underlying capacity, not just their toolkit.
Vertical vs. Horizontal Development
- Horizontal development (skills and knowledge): Adds more tools, techniques and information to a leader’s existing mindset—useful, but insufficient when the work itself becomes exponentially more complex.
- Vertical development (capacity and sensemaking): Expands how leaders make meaning, enabling more complex, integrated thinking that can meet today’s challenges with greater wisdom and agility.
Said simply: horizontal tells you “what to do,” while vertical transforms “how you think.” The strongest leadership strategies weave both, with vertical development elevating the impact of every skill you already have.
Why Vertical Development Matters Now
Current research underscores the urgency. A recent study surveying more than 1,100 L&D and functional leaders across 14+ countries found organizations are pushing for “fast, fluid, and future-focused learning.” Leaders are increasingly expected to foster cultures that embrace change (with 40% of organizations placing greater emphasis year-over-year), prioritize upskilling and reskilling initiatives (44% reporting increased focus), and accelerate speed-to-skill through scalable, context-driven learning strategies (Source: Harvard Business). Vertical development addresses those mandates by evolving the mindsets that enable speed, adaptability and collective intelligence.
How Vertical Development Works
- Adult developmental stages (action-logics): Adults continue to grow through discernible stages, each expanding their capacity to perceive, integrate and influence. Leaders who advance through multiple action-logics are shown to increase their transformative impact across teams, organizations and systems.
- Validated vertical measures: Global Leadership Associates (GLA) offers world-leading vertical assessments like the Global Leadership Profile (GLP) and MyWorldView—the world’s first validated and reliable AI-scored vertical measure designed to scale this work responsibly.
- MyWorldView in practice: Leaders complete 30 open-ended sentence stems. Responses are analyzed for complexity of awareness of self, others and the systemic; profiles map across seven developmental stages (including transitions). Each stage encompasses the prior and enables greater complexity handling—scored using AI for reliability and scale.
This isn’t about labeling people—it’s about illuminating the growth path so leaders can expand the way they see and shape their world.
Proven Accelerators of Vertical Growth
Research on vertical development highlights three reinforcing levers you can bake into everyday leadership and development design:
- Heat experiences: Real, high-stakes challenges that stretch leaders beyond current habits.
- Colliding perspectives: Exposure to diverse viewpoints that productively disrupt default thinking.
- Deliberate reflection: Structured sensemaking practices that integrate insight into new action.
When combined, these accelerate shifts in mindset—and over time, action—so leaders lead with more clarity and range.
A Practical Roadmap to Start
- Assess capacity, not only competence: Use a vertical measure (e.g., GLP or MyWorldView) to illuminate current sensemaking patterns and growth edges.
- Set outcome-focused growth intentions: Define the real decisions, stakeholders, and complexities where expanded capacity will change results.
- Design for the three levers: Embed heat, perspectives and reflection into projects, meetings and coaching—not just workshops.
- Scale with digital and in-context learning: Pair coaching with scalable, just-in-time experiences to accelerate speed-to-skill and culture shift.
- Measure what matters: Track shifts in decision quality, stakeholder alignment and cycle time—not just course completions.
Myths to Retire
- “We just need more training.” Skills without expanded sensemaking can add noise, not impact, in high complexity. Vertical growth amplifies every skill you already have.
- “Adults don’t really develop beyond a point.” Adults can and do progress through later stages that meaningfully change how they lead and live—research spanning decades supports this.
- “This is only for individuals.” Vertical development scales to teams and systems, shaping culture and collective intelligence when embedded in how the organization learns.
How Can Innolect Help?
Innolect is a global leadership and organization development firm dedicated to growing leaders, strengthening talent pipelines and improving workplace performance. Our offerings include executive coaching, leadership assessment, manager development, executive communication, vertical leadership development programs, team development, culture development and strategic change—each designed to cultivate future-ready capabilities and stronger organizational outcomes. Our vision is to better the world by growing leaders and building creative, high-integrity workplaces.
Innolect integrates vertical development principles into coaching, programs and assessments, so growth is not just learned—it’s lived in real work, with measurable impact across leaders, teams and organizations. You can even purchase the MyWorldView (from Global Leadership Associates) from our website!
Partner with us to invest in your leadership pipeline, onboard new leaders, strengthen your organizational culture and create a workplace where teams and leaders thrive. Ready to elevate your organization’s potential? Contact us today to learn more.
At Innolect, our wide range of virtual and remote services are designed to help you and your teams grow, thrive and remain connected. If you want to explore how we can assist you or your organization, contact us to set up a consultation or training.
Additionally, our products and assessments help leaders and teams develop the skills and capabilities needed to grow exponentially.
Contact us to schedule a FREE consultation:
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