7 minute read
Learning and development
Post-traumatic growth
Uncertainty and upheaval have become key features of our personal and professional lives these past few years. A global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, climate change, cost of living rises, the war in Ukraine – the list goes on. Joanne Ostler explores the silver lining of living in uncertain times.
From an organisational point of view, today's global challenges mean that the pressure is on – just as it is from a personal perspective. Companies strive to recruit and retain the best talent, which is far from easy with low unemployment. ‘The Great Resignation’ is a very real phenomenon as people reassess their lives and career options. Throw some organisational change into the mix and you could have many staff who feel like they’re in over their heads.
But the good news is that all this disruption, distress and uncertainty has an up side – the opportunity for post-traumatic growth.
It’s long been recognised that dealing with traumatic events can, in reality, be character-building. We can become more resilient, manage our emotions better, see a bigger picture and appreciate the benefits of listening to different perspectives, if given enough time and the proper support to grow.
Post-traumatic growth is a concept that was first created by psychologists Dr Richard Tedeschi and Dr Lawrence Calhoun to describe the positive psychological change we experience by struggling with highly challenging circumstances. It’s what’s known as adversity-based development. Dealing with crises can become a turning point.
Many researchers (eg, Joseph & Linley, 2008; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004; Infurna and Jayawickreme, 2019) have looked at how people grow from adversity including the transformational role traumatic events can play in fostering growth.
The impact of the experiences over almost three years now can be described as a chronic trauma (as opposed to an acute trauma such as a one-off incident). COVID-19 is dragging on and on. We are fatigued and many people now carry a heaviness with them – a sense of not knowing which way is up and worrying about what’s coming next. Far from being on solid ground, we are at sea.
An opportunity to grow
But in these current times, where we have experienced huge shocks and discomfort, we may have opportunities to experience faster growth than under normal circumstances. This is what’s referred to as post-traumatic growth.
Heads, Harvard professor and developmental psychologist Robert Kegan describes the stages of increasingly complex cognitive development that humans have the potential to grow into over the course of their lives. This is what’s known in the research literature as adult development theory (ADT). This theory is also referred to as 'vertical development' in the organisational world of leadership development.
Despite being in the midst of chronic trauma, now is an ideal time for individuals and organisations to consider supporting their leaders to nurture and progress their vertical development. It will help them unlock their ability to think ‘big’ enough to
navigate the increasingly complex and uncertain future we’re all facing and grow to become a more effective leader in the process.
The map above shows the adult development journey an individual may embark on over the course of a lifetime. Adults don’t have to grow. They don’t have to go on the journey, but workplaces can provide considerable opportunities to do so.
Vertical development coaches work with their clients to assess what stage they are currently at. This might include using tools such as the Growth Edge Interview and the Global Leadership Profile (noting that it’s impossible to be sure of someone’s development stage by observation alone). By reflecting on situations with their coach and having ‘sense-making’ developmental conversations, people can start to glimpse some of the bigger perspectives and questions they’re carrying. Coaches can encourage their clients to take a ‘balcony’ view: “What is going on for my team members? And for my manager? In what ways am I (unconsciously) attached to my old goals and ways of working?”.
To develop vertically means we go on a journey toward greater mental complexity and wisdom. The journey is a process. It is not a one-off event and it does take time. Each advancing stage of development brings broader perspectives and bigger capacities for managing uncertainty and complexity.
So how do we grow our development capacity?
There are several prerequisites to moving from one stage of adult development to the next. One of the key ones is discomfort, which we have plenty of right now.
Leaders are facing ongoing and significant disruption, complexity and unpredictability. When a leader starts to realise that their current way of operating is not working any more and the pain of their experience is worse than the perceived pain of change, they can open up to a more sophisticated and mature way of being and making sense.
Growth is messy. It’s uncomfortable and often makes us feel foolish (which is why we sometimes unconsciously try to avoid it). But feeling foolish, uncertain, irritable or just plain uncomfortable is an extricable part of the process.
Jennifer Garvey Berger is a leading expert in the vertical development field. “I think the biggest obstacle to our growth is how scary it is to grow,” she said in a recent interview for Manage Magazine. “I have a sense that people stay the same until the idea of growing is less painful than the place that they’re in. Also, I think people grow because they kind of have to due to their circumstances. For most of us, a lot of loss comes with growth, and as we imagine ourselves being different we have to let go of who we are today.
Another key ingredient in the adult development journey is ongoing reflection. When leaders and managers use coaches and other processes to help them challenge their thinking and make sense of experiences, it allows them to see and navigate more complex and expanded worldviews. As the American philosopher John Dewey, “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.”
Exposure to a diverse range of perspectives is also essential. Interactions with people who hold different worldviews and opinions, including interactions with people at later stages of vertical development, can help you progress and expand your own capacity.
People also need support systems that provide ‘good company’ for the developmental journey. This includes developmental coaching and potentially using vertical development tools and learning partnerships.
The final component is personal impact. Do you want and need to improve your ability to navigate ongoing change, uncertainty and complexity? Does developing as a leader matter to you? If it does not, an individual is unlikely (at a conscious or subconscious level) to risk the time, energy or discomfort that embarking on a vertical development journey is likely to involve.
Embrace the change to evolve
Mark Twain famously urged people to “sail away from the safe harbour”, and uncertainty is now a natural feature of our lives. Can you embrace post-traumatic growth and consider how your own vertical development (or that of your organisation’s leaders) might benefit as a result?
You may have experienced a lot of emotions as you have navigated the storms of the past two years. And it’s ongoing. How have you grown? Have you seen others around you grow through this journey?
As challenging as it continues to be, there is a silver lining to all of this if we look hard enough and are willing to invest in our vertical development. It is the key to becoming a more effective leader in today’s tumultuous workplace and a proven way to avoid feeling that you are in over your head.
Joanne Ostler (PCC) is a certified leadership coach specialising in adult (vertical) development. Learn more at www.springleadership. com.
