In studying adult development, developmental psychologists have revealed that:
- Adults can continue developing during adulthood.
- There are three primary adult development levels.
- While adults can develop during adulthood, not all do. (Across the general population, only 36% make it beyond the first level, and as indicated, across executives, 93% make it beyond the first level.)
- At each level, one’s body is programmed to fulfill different needs.
Specifically, at the first level of leadership, people are wired to fulfill the needs of safety, comfort, and belonging. This generally leads to them operating in a conservative fashion, avoiding failure, problems, and risk, and overall, doing what keeps them safe, comfortable, and feeling like they belong.
At the second level of leadership, people are wired to fulfill the needs of standing out, advancing, and getting ahead. This generally leads them to be driven by accomplishment, notoriety, and control. Again, this is where 85% of leaders operate.
At the third level of leadership, people are wired to fulfill the needs of contributing, adding value, and lifting others. They don’t care much about standing in or standing out. They have a purpose that is greater than themselves that they are dedicating their lives and efforts toward. When you think of historically great leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Rosa Parks, and Nelson Mandela, it is easy to see that the reason why they were great is because they cared more about creating value for others than about being safe or standing out. Again, only 8% of leaders operate at this level.
Beyond this internal wiring focused on fulfilling different needs, what are the key differences between leaders who operate at the top level (i.e., great leaders) compared to leaders who operate at the middle level (i.e., most leaders)?
Difference #1 – Purpose-Focused instead of Results-Focused
Because second-level leaders (i.e., most leaders) possess an internal drive to stand out, they are generally results-focused. This means that one of their main areas of focus is on the accomplishment of results. While this is well-intended, results-focused leaders are prone to sacrifice people, relationships, and ethics in order to get results, which can be detrimental to an organization and its culture.
Because third-level leaders (i.e., great leaders) do not care about standing out and are passionate about creating value for others, instead of being results-focused, they are purpose-focused. This means that they have a meaningful “why” for their personal existence as well as their organization’s existence. And, this “why” is generally connected to creating value for others or something bigger and beyond themselves.
When leaders are purpose-focused, this becomes the foundation for their leadership and the motives for everything they do.
To help leaders assess where their focus lies, I ask them, “What is your ratio of results to purpose emphasis in your communication?”
A helpful rule of thumb: Whenever leaders talk about results, they should also be talking about purpose. And, leaders should be talking about purpose when they aren’t talking about results. This suggests that the ratio of results to purpose communication should be weighted in favor of purpose.
Difference #2 – Culture-Focused instead of Status-Focused
Because second-level leaders (i.e., most leaders) possess an internal drive to stand out, they are also generally status-focused. This means that another main area of focus is on looking good to their external world (e.g., stockholders, media, peers, competitors). While this is well-intended, status-focused leaders are prone to sacrifice people, relationships, and ethics in order to gain status, which can be detrimental to an organization and its culture.
Because third-level leaders (i.e., great leaders) do not care about standing out and are passionate about creating value for others, instead of being status-focused, they are culture-focused. This means that they are more concerned about their organization’s internal world than they are about its external world. They understand that if their organization is going to be creative, innovative, agile, and continually successful, they need to make sure the culture is healthy.
At best, second-level leaders don’t emphasize culture because they are putting results and status as higher priorities. At worst, second-level leaders are willing to sacrifice culture for desired results and status.
Why is this? And, why is it that third-level leaders are passionate about the health of their culture?
The answers are connected to the third difference.
Difference #3 – Long-Term Focused instead of Short-Term Focused
Because second-level leaders (i.e., most leaders) possess an internal drive to stand out, they are also generally short-term focused. They prioritize hitting their short-term targets and milestones, generally to help ensure accomplishing results of obtaining status. While this is well-intended and often incentivized both socially and formally, short-term-focused leaders are prone to sacrifice people, relationships, and ethics in the short term, which can be detrimental to an organization and its culture.
Because third-level leaders (i.e., great leaders) do not care about standing out and are passionate about creating value for others, instead of being short-term-focused, they are long-term-focused. This means that they are more concerned about their organization being able to continually create value and fulfill their purpose into perpetuity. They understand that if they want to continually create value and fulfill their purpose, there are times when they have to miss results targets in the short term to set themselves up for greater long-term value creation.
What I have discovered is that second-level leaders don’t emphasize purpose and culture because those aren’t helpful for hitting short-term milestones.
Third-level leaders recognize that emphasizing purpose and culture may not be urgent, but emphasizing those things is absolutely essential for long-term success and impact.
A classic example of a second-level leader is Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric. He seemed to be overly preoccupied with exceeding shareholder expectations on a quarter-by-quarter and year-over-year basis. Altogether, he was results-focused, status-focused, and short-term focused. While he was successful at exceeding shareholder expectations, the decisions he made ultimately crippled the long-term viability of the company and its ability to continually create value for all of its stakeholders. And, just recently, General Electric decided to disband into separate business units, putting an end to the 132-year-old conglomerate.
An example of a third-level leader is Alan Mulally, former CEO of Ford. He took the helm at Ford when it was losing billions of dollars annually. In a matter of a few short years, he was able to transform Ford into one of the world’s leading auto manufacturers, and he was able to withstand the economic crisis of 2008 without a government bailout. Why was he able to do this? He emphasized purpose, culture, and a long-term focus. As an example, one of his first items of business was to take out one of the largest loans in history despite the fact that they were hemorrhaging money. The reason why? So they could invest in technology and development. Mulally knew that if they were ever going to get out of the “red,” they would need to make cars people wanted to buy.
Elevating Your Leaders
If your organization is like most organizations, its leadership is mostly comprised of second-level leaders who are more:
- Results-focused than purpose-focused
- Status-focused than culture-focused
- Short-term-focused than long-term-focused
If you want to elevate the level of your leaders to become more purpose-focused, culture-focused, and long-term-focused, you aren’t going to do that through a focus on improving knowledge, skills, and abilities (i.e., horizontal development). You are going to have to employ a form of development called vertical development that focuses on helping leaders elevate in their adult development stages.
If you would like to learn more about vertical development and the ways it can transform your leaders and organization, check out my webinar, Resolving the Biggest Issue Affecting Leaders: Self-Protective Fears, and my in-depth workshop, Leadership Effectiveness: What Sets Apart the Very Best Leaders from Most Leaders?.
