Leader Complexity: A Necessary Ability For Effectiveness In Leadership

How to vertically develop leaders

Leaders are continually facing increasing change, pressure, uncertainty, and complexity. And, there is little indication that the increasing tumultuousness of leaders’ environments is going to slow down, stop, or reverse course.
 

As a leadership researcher and leadership development consultant, I am finding that the complexity of leaders’ environments commonly exceeds leaders’ abilities to effectively navigate that complexity. Stated differently, organizations are commonly running on a leadership deficit.

There are two primary consequences to this leadership deficit: (1) organizations are floundering and (2) leaders are struggling

We are seeing more and more organizations declare bankruptcy or sell on the cheap. The United States Courts revealed that filings for Chapter 13 bankruptcy increased 26.6 percent in 2022 compared to 2021.

Also, we are finding that leaders are so stressed out that they are struggling with their mental health. Bupa Global recently reported the following statistics from the last year:
● 77% of senior executives suffered from at least one symptom associated with poor mental health
● 24% of senior executives have suffered from insomnia and disturbed sleep in the last year
● 30% of senior executives have reported struggling with depression
● 7% of senior executives have considered self-harm (up from 1% in the prior year)

The more we appreciate the increasing tumultuousness of leaders’ environments and recognize leaders’ lagging capabilities to navigate that tumultuousness, the more it becomes clear that we need to help leaders develop the abilities and skills to better navigate complex and tumultuous environments.

In this article, I want to introduce a relatively unknown ability that is necessary for navigating complexity and tumultuousness and explore how leaders can develop this ability. This ability is leader complexity.

What is Leader Complexity?

Formally, leader complexity consists of a leader’s ability to both differentiate and integrate stimuli in the environment to achieve a deeper level of situational awareness which enables them to address challenging situations in a positive and adaptive manner. More informally, leader complexity involves the degree to which a leader sees themselves as being a complex being and able to tap into the various aspects of their personal complexity to best navigate a given situation.

To make this ability come to life, it is helpful to recognize that people and leaders commonly operate in different modes. For example, Leader A may primarily operate in “good soldier mode,” which allows them to be friendly, a team player, and kind. But, occasionally, the leader may also operate in “connection mode” or “parent mode” where they also leverage their kindness and friendliness.
Leaders low in leader complexity see themselves as very consistent and simple people. They have a low number of modes, there is low diversity in character attributes that they rely upon across these modes (e.g., friendly, kind), and they struggle to shift from one mode to another.

Leaders high in leader complexity see themselves as very complex and dynamic people. They have a large number of modes that they operate from, there is high diversity in character attributes that they rely upon across these modes, and they can easily shift from one mode to another.

For example, Leader B may have eight primary modes that they can quickly and effortlessly slip in and out of. One mode might be “achiever mode” where they are driven, focused, and competitive. Another mode might be “leader mode” where they are visionary, motivating, and ethical. A third mode might be “coach mode” where they are supportive, empathetic, and enabling.

Opportunity for Introspection

For understanding leader complexity, let me invite you to introspect on your personal complexity by engaging in the following exercises:
●    Write down a label for the most common mode that you operate from.
●    Write down the primary character attributes associated with that primary mode.
●    Write down other common modes that you operate from and their associated attributes.
●    It can be helpful to think about a recent day. Go through your day and identify the different modes that you were in throughout the day and explore how easy it was for you to shift modes.
●    Write down modes that you don’t spend much time in, but you need to spend more time in.
●    Consider what you can do to improve your ability to shift modes and step into modes that you need to operate from more than you currently do.

How to Enhance Leader Complexity

Enhancing leaders’ complexity requires a form of development most human resource personnel are not familiar with. It requires vertical development, which differs from the more traditional form of development: horizontal development.

Horizontal development is adding knowledge and skills to an individual. It is a lot like adding apps onto an iPad. The apps are beneficial because they broaden our functionality.

It might be natural to think that to improve leaders’ complexity, we just need to help them download new “modes.” But, what researchers are finding is that one’s ability to download new modes is predicated upon the sophistication of their underlying operating system. It is that underlying operating system that is generally restrains leaders’ development of leader complexity.

If we want to help leaders upgrade leaders internal operating system so they are more capable of (1) developing a wider repertoire of modes and (2) switching seamlessly between various modes as their situation requires, we need to employ vertical development.

How to Vertically Develop

In order to vertically develop, we need to engage in development efforts that differ from traditional horizontal development efforts. Let me discuss three options.

First, vertical development always starts with deepening one’s self-awareness and questioning existing beliefs, values, and mindsets. In my practice, I focus most on mindsets. What I have found is that most leaders think they have positive mindsets. But, when they take my Personal Mindset Assessment, most leaders find that they have at least one mindset that is not very sophisticated. In fact, out of over 30,000 people who have taken my mindset assessment, only 2.5% are in the top quartile for all four sets of mindsets measured in the assessment.

Second, vertical development often requires a coach. This is because much of vertical development involves awakening to one’s blindspots, which leaders are quick to ignore and may not even know how to find. Thus, it is helpful to have a coach to help one do the deep self-awareness work that vertical development work requires.

Third, not only may a coach be helpful, but a therapist may also be necessary. Neuroscientists and psychologists are increasingly finding that early-life trauma results in neurological adaptations that are suited for survival and self-protection, not leadership. For example, if leaders experienced neglect as a child, they may have become dissociated and have a diminished ability to connect with their emotions, which prevents them from being emotionally intelligent (inhibiting their ability to get into relationship-oriented modes). If that is the case, the only way to help that person become more emotionally intelligent is for that person to neurologically heal from their past trauma. Generally, this type of work requires a therapist.

Elevating Leaders’ Complexity

The reality is that our world is going to become increasingly tumultuous. If we want leaders to be successful in navigating that tumultuousness, it is essential that we help leaders improve their complexity. This means, helping them vertically develop their internal operating system so that they can use a wider repertoire of modes and improve their ability to shift seamlessly in and out of our modes.

It is only by helping leaders enhance their complexity that we will be able to reduce the leadership deficit and empower leaders to bring the versions of themselves that are most appropriate for meeting the demands of the tumultuousness they must navigate.

Author Bio

Ryan Gottfredson, Ph.D. is a cutting-edge leadership development author, researcher, and consultant. He helps organizations vertically develop their leaders primarily through a focus on mindsets. Ryan is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of Success Mindsets: The Key to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work, & Leadership. And, he is the author of the upcoming book, The Elevated Leader: Leveling Up Your Leadership Through Vertical Development. He is also a leadership professor at the College of Business and Economics at California State University-Fullerton. Visit https://ryangottfredson.com/ Connect Ryan Gottfredson, Ph.D