Appendix B
Example of One Concept of Stages of Development
XYZ is a manufacturing company operating worldwide. (We have disguised identifying details.) Several years ago the CEO decided to send its top levels of management through the Center’s Leadership Development Program (LDP). The first author of this report has been involved in a study of this use of LDP in the context of all of XYZ’s organization-development processes. Here we briefly present that case in light of our model.
The development of the leaders within XYZ can be described as a progression of developmental stages. We call those stages Dependency, Independency, and Interdependency; these are roughly consistent with (in order) Stage 3, Stage 4, and Stage 5 described by Kegan (1982). Some characteristics of these stages are shown in Figure B1 (p. 40).
First, consider the influence of the environment on readiness for development. A few years before we started our study, a new CEO was hired from outside the industry. Among his first actions was a reorganization of top management, followed by the study and implementation of a number of badly needed management systems, under the larger frame of a quality certification. Soon after, a number of organization-development initiatives were started, including a clarification of company values, climate surveys, and a system of periodic mutual feedback in groups.
In retrospect, the organization was changing from requiring loyalty and adherence to tradition from its managers, to requiring them to be independent operators of a set of rational management systems. Managerial performance criteria were changing accordingly. Our measures (using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test) of the developmental positions of these managers before LDP indicated that most were at the transition between Stage 3 and Stage 4.
Our overall diagnosis of readiness is that most of the managers were ready for the kind of Stage 4 meaning structures fostered by LDP. Just as important, the initiatives being implemented by the company were highly compatible with LDP.
LDP emphasizes self- and other-awareness as a means of consciously practicing leadership. One of the major in-program tools is reflection on feedback from work colleagues and from psychological test instruments. Support is given for developing an independent, authoritative, and systemic point of view, while still respecting the various “dependencies” or memberships the person has within work, family, and the community. XYZ managers reported substantial learning from fellow LDP participants representing very different types of industries. These processes are consistent with a Stage 3 to Stage 4 transition.
Participants tended to exhibit change in the following areas: They became more adept at relationships with colleagues. They worked harder at achieving a satisfying balance between their jobs and their families. They found it easier to “stand up” to top management in asserting their points of view. They became more comfortable with the new systems of management as a positive evolution of the traditions of their business. These outcomes are consistent with movement from Stage 3 to Stage 4.
It is important to note that developmental processes and outcomes are not limited to those caused by LDP. Organization-development systems in this case reinforced the developmental processes and desired outcomes of the program. There are also other factors, including individual managers’ life stage and family transitions, which have contributed to their changes.
Because of the organization-development contribution, it seems appropriate to extend our stage analysis to the organizational level of development. The right-hand column of Figure B1 shows our interpretation of the organizational manifestation of stage development (this is consistent with the work of Torbert, 1987, and colleagues—Rooke & Torbert, 1995). We believe that this company as a whole is evolving into the meaning structure of Independence. But there are also indications that Interdependence is being increasingly called for. This brings us back around in the model to readiness: Further leader development in the company should begin to look for and strengthen signs of readiness in managers to take on an Interdependence framework.