Leadership development can take two distinct types: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal growth targets on adding new skills, knowledge, and competencies broadening what a leader can do. Vertical development, on the other hand, alters how a leader thinks, perceives, and responds. This enables leaders to handle complexity, stress, and uncertainty by increasing maturity, emotional regulation, and perspective. While horizontal development can make a leader more capable in the short term, vertical growth boosts their ability to inspire and create lasting value. However, to achieve sustainable leadership impact, understanding both is the key. 

Ryan Gottfredson is a leadership expert, author, and researcher specializing in vertical development and organizational psychology. He is the founder and owner of Ryan Gottfredson LLC. He helps organizations vertically develop their leaders primarily through focusing on mindsets. He is also a leadership professor at the College of Business and Economics at California State University-Fullerton. Ryan is the author of the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller ‘Success Mindsets: The Key to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work, & Leadership’. He joined us today to talk about vertical development, which transforms leaders at their core. 

 

HIGHLIGHTS

[02:25] Vertical development vs. horizontal development. 

[05:00] Maturity in vertical development. 

[07:19] Self-protection vs. value creation. 

[11:26] Developing metacognitive skills. 

[15:30] Jim Collins' Level 5 Leadership Framework. 

[23:12] Challenges of level 5 leadership. 

[27:13] The window of tolerance. 

[32:00] Managing stress at the moment. 

[35:50] Practical strategies to manage stress.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Notice if your instinct under pressure is to protect yourself or create value. 

2. Resist the emotional comfort that can come at the expense of long-term innovation and growth.

3. Even transformational leaders have flaws, accept imperfection. 

4. Prioritize value creation over self-protection. 

5. Recognize your current ‘window of tolerance’ and notice what triggers you out of it. 

6. Manage stress proactively and avoid slipping into the self-protection mode. 

 

RESOURCES

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't 

by Jim Collins 

amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996 

 

Connect with Ryan Gottfredson

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/ryangottfredson/ 

Website -  ryangottfredson.com/ 

Instagram - instagram.com/ryangottfredson/ 

Amazon - amazon.com/stores/author/B07WVT2Z8T 

 

Orange County Restaurant Recommendations (Bonus!) https://www.elfarolitomex.com/ https://www.tacosloscholos.net/

 

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