New Leadership
Our society has become unsustainable environmentally, economically and psychologically. It is the collective decisions of leaders, whether they are in business, government, charities, religion, the public sector, or our community, which creates our society. As our society is unsustainable, this means our leadership has become unsustainable.
Many of our leaders are now finding they are ‘in over their heads’ as they face of increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). Their psychological growth is becoming misaligned with the challenges they face. The majority of these leaders are at Stage 4 in their development, which is called ‘conventional’ as it was once viewed as the highest stage of development required for leaders in organisations. It is the level of consciousness of these leaders which is continuing to create our unsustainable society.
To lead us to a better, and more sustainable, future in the VUCA world, we need 'new leadership'. Our society needs more leaders who have developed to the ‘post-conventional’ stages of psychological growth. These post conventional leaders can employ ‘new leadership’ and, together, create a better future for us all. To co-create a more sustainable society we need leaders to grow to a new level of consciousness.
| Old Leadership Development Stage 4 Conventional |
New Leadership Development Stage 6 Post-conventional |
| Competitive | Collaborative |
| Habitual | Agile |
| Likes to know the right answer | Knows there is no one right answer |
| Has a vision of the future | Enables others to co-create the future |
| Driven by ego and self-esteem | Driven by purpose |
| Protects self by delivering results | Gives self to serving others |
| Independent | Interdependent |
| Emotionally intelligent | Emotionally and morally intelligent |
| Thinks in terms of systems | Thinks in terms of patterns emerging from complexity |
| Authentic to their personality | Authentic to their values |
Leaders can grow to Stage 6 by facing an appropriate challenges, but first they must be prepared and supported. Our New Leadership Development modules and programmes prepare, challenge and support leaders as they development and grow. We prepare leaders by helping them to them develop their ‘lines of consciousness’ (cognition, emotion and behaviour) and enabling them to experience Stage 6 ‘states of consciousness’. We guide leaders to take on a challenge that is appropriate for their next stage of development and support them through their developmental process.
For further information about Seven Stages of Leader Development, take a look at this article or download this free e-book.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
