Using developmental stages in coaching

With Karen Ellis
Thursday 18th May 2017, 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Space in Marylebone, 10 Daventry Street, London NW1 5NX
Members £30+VAT; Non-members £35+VAT

Vertical development spiral leaves

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‘Vertical development’ is becoming a buzz phrase in the leadership and OD industries but what, if anything, does it really mean? Is there any real difference from the whole range of developmental coaching we already do – informed by our own valued theories of human change?

The aim of the session is to help you understand the elements of the adult constructivist development field which might be of most value to you in your own work with clients. This might be about :

finding some new ‘lenses’ to diagnose what is happening for your client in their development
getting some pointers about honing the development suggestions you make for this particular unique client in this particular unique moment in their growth
gaining a greater awareness of the paths of conceptual, interpersonal and person maturation as they are described in the various theories.

Karen will take us through a brief ‘canter across the theories’ of adult development – touching on the work of Robert Kegan, Elliot Jaques, Otto Lasker and the ‘Loevinger informed’ group of Bill Torbert, Suzanne Cook Greuter and Terri O’Fallon. Then, more importantly, you will get a chance to work with the ideas together – considering your own clients, their stages and transitions, their development needs and concerns.

But we won’t just be thinking about clients ! You will also get a chance to think about where you are in your own development, where your ‘leading and trailing edges’ are and to work with peers to think about what is next for you too…

And, importantly, there will be plenty of space in the discussion for scepticism and questioning of the fundamental basis of the theories. This is an emerging, converging field with, as yet, a relatively light evidence base – although research efforts are multiplying quickly. There is controversy about the use of the concepts es and worry, in some quarters, about even the idea of a progressive adult developmental process and what that might mean for how people are judged and even labelled in an organisational setting. These are all valid concerns – concerns which can be best addressed by good peer dialogue and an openness to applying the best of the ideas in practice.

If you would like to prepare for the session, you might want to think about your own answers to some of the following questions.

Think about your own development as an ‘adult’ (however long you consider that to have been…!)

What have been the key developmental experiences that have shifted your own way of making sense of the world? (Look deeply – sometimes they are not the obvious life-stage ones – sometimes a seemingly trivial incident can result in a major shift and, conversely, we can go through significant life stages without any major change in meaning-making).
Are there any patterns to the key experiences?
To what extent did you ‘will’ the change vs it happening to you?
What practices and disciplines do you routinely use for your development (this can be very low tech, like regular reflection, or more elaborate like a learning group or ‘thinking technology’ that you apply)?

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