Leading Impact
Leadership development has become a buzzword in the corporate and educational sectors alike. However, many courses and programmes still fall short of empowering participants to deliver meaningful, lasting impact in their organisation. If we want to truly empower leaders to sustainably grow, inspire, and transform their organisation, we need to take a holistic approach that uses human development principles as a foundation and focuses on personal and professional growth, self-awareness, and system maturity. Without doing so we are missing out on the impact by and to the collective ‘whole’.
Developmental coaching offers an ideal framework to achieve this, ensuring that leadership development is not just about skills and competencies but about nurturing leaders as evolving human beings that are aware of the diversity of others. It is however, not the only solution, nor should it be relied on on its own.
In this blog, we explore how to maximise leadership development by integrating developmental coaching principles across individuals, teams and the wider organisation and its systems. This approach goes beyond traditional training methods to fostering authentic leadership, climate maturity and sustainable system change that ultimately benefits all stakeholders.
1. Explore the Stages of Human Development
One of the most impactful ways to approach leadership development is through the lens of human development theory. Human development is a lifelong journey that includes waves of stages, each offering new perspectives, challenges and opportunities for growth. Renowned psychologist Robert Kegan’s theory of adult development, for instance, emphasises that leaders progress through various "orders of consciousness" - stages that shape their understanding of the world and their leadership style.
To be an impactful leader, you first need to recognise and understand where you are within your own development journey as well as where others are at on theirs’. As a leader you need to be able to meet others where they are to communicate effectively, gain their ‘buy-in’ and give them the necessary challenge and motivation to fulfil their personal potential. The flexibility of meeting others where they are provides the nuance that is required to generate flow on an individual and collective level- thus making challenge and change appealing and aligned to a shared purpose.
This is easier said than done. Leaders in earlier developmental stages may focus on meeting external expectations and managing tasks based on their own preferences, while those in later stages may have a broader, more strategic perspective, integrating complex ideas and values into their leadership but at the expense of losing people in jargon and abstract concepts. Having the awareness that there is variation within how team members see the world and recognising where you and others may be at in their development generates far greater trust and alignment within the team than everything trying to move forward with their own individual approach. Often it is not the end goal that causes issues but more so how people view the path to achieving the goal. Appreciating the upsides and the limitations that values can place on people empowers the team to integrate diverse perspectives, values and talent across strategy and performance. This also feeds into other lines of physiological and emotional development, for we must be in the state for development if anything is going to emerge and have the energy capacity to sustain it.
Key takeaway: Tailor leadership development to align with the leader’s and team’s current stage of development across key lines of development. This will ensure that growth is both achievable and transformative, challenging the leader to expand their state, thinking and approach at a pace that’s aligned with their personal evolution. With rapid change developing your leadership capabilities is key.
2. Prioritise Self-Awareness and Reflection
The theme of self-awareness comes up time and again. It is the cornerstone of effective leadership. Leaders who deeply understand their strengths, weaknesses, values, and emotional triggers are far better equipped to make thoughtful decisions, manage teams, and inspire others. Developmental coaching places a strong emphasis on reflective practices that help you gain insight into your inner world and how your outer world has shaped it (at least up until now…).
Through guided reflection, leaders can examine how their personal biases, emotions, and assumptions influence their leadership approach. This is where coaching becomes transformational- leaders learn tools, use frameworks and develop new habits to step out from ‘automatic’ responses and approaches to consider and apply alternative ways of doing things that are more aligned with their values. Through self-awareness and reflection practices you also hold yourself accountable for the progress (or lack of) that you make.
Developmental coaching is not about providing solutions or giving advice. Instead, it encourages leaders to engage in their own learning process, focusing on how they can evolve personally and professionally. The aim is to create a safe space where leaders can explore their blind spots, challenge their assumptions, and develop new ways of thinking and leading.
Key takeaway: Incorporate regular reflective practices such as journaling, breath work, or guided feedback sessions, into leadership development to deepen self-awareness and foster conscious, reflexive leadership.
3. Develop Emotional Intelligence and Resilience
Leaders with high emotional intelligence (EQ) are better at managing relationships, understanding their own emotions, and responding to challenges with empathy and resilience. These are all key qualities of leadership that we touched on in our previous blog [https://glasshouselab.com/blog/leading-authentically]. Emotional intelligence coupled with self-awareness enables leaders to navigate difficult situations with calm and clarity, which in turn strengthens trust and connection within their teams.
Human development principles suggest that emotional regulation and resilience are learnable skills that evolve with time and experience. A developmental coaching approach can help leaders cultivate these qualities by encouraging self-compassion, energy management, and constructive responses to failure or mistakes.
Key takeaway: Foster emotional intelligence is a foundational skill in impactful leadership, particularly when aiming to influence climate and therefore culture change. How we show up is key.
4. Lifelong Growth
It may sound obvious to say that leadership development is not a one-time event; but it is surprising the number of leaders who get comfortable in their position, develop a legacy mindset (this is the way we have always done it) and lose the motivation to get better. This is the number one resistance to transformation. Embodying the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed over time is an essential component for leaders. These leaders are open to ever increasing their competence and understanding and act as role models for those that they lead to do the same. This includes letting new (internal and external) voices into the conversation into the dialogue. The impact of this on the climate and culture of the organisation is immense. If we are not on a journey of development ourselves then how can we expect our organisation to thrive and have meaningful impact on those it serves and understand their lens?
The subtle shift to asking "What can I learn from this experience?" embraces curiosity and openness key ingredients for sustained leadership development. It is also important to remember to look at the whole process and not just focus on the end result. It is always satisfying to look at the final product or outcome and feel a sense of achievement (and this is not without merit); but looking at the whole process of getting somewhere provides a rich tapestry of learning and development moments with a wealth of information for refining, streamlining and improving things even more the next time!
Key takeaway: Be curious about the whole process and not focused on the end result.
5. Nurture Purpose-Driven Leadership
A key principle of human development is a sense of purpose. It is now becoming more and more common that leaders are seeking to lead with purpose though aligning personal values with professional actions and wider missions to create a sense of meaning in doing what we do. We would argue that this is essential. Leaders who are connected to their own sense of purpose are inspirational but those who understand their teams’ purpose can be transformational. A clear purpose opens up passion, drive, engagement and commitment; empowering us to continue even in the really tough times.
A word of warning though, a clear purpose is nothing when it is not coupled with self-awareness and appreciation for collective drivers such as purpose and values. Without this, leadership can become tunnel-visioned and as a result lose the richness of the diverse values that drive it forward. If a leader does not have their people on board, then what exactly are they leading? This awareness creates new levels of empowerment and therefore collective growth.
Coaching can help leaders clarify their purpose by asking deep questions about what truly matters to them and how they want to leave an impact. This exploration of values and vision can guide leaders in aligning their day-to-day actions with their broader sense of purpose, making their leadership more authentic and powerful. It can also support them to view their own purpose and values with the perspective of others’ promoting alignment and wider collaboration towards a collective purpose.
6. Create a Culture of Feedback and Accountability
Last but by no means least - Having a developmental and psychologically safe culture is essential for achieving impact. This cannot happen unless the culture values continuous improvement and accountability. For a long time, there has been a long-standing and lingering undertone within education on performance, of coming across as the best, never making mistakes and putting up a front. This is partly as a result of the immense pressure placed on schools and educational organisation but also partly caused by individual egos and the traditional view that ‘teachers are experts’ (we will save that for another blog!) in doing so, we forget that we are human, nothing is perfect and in fact far better outcomes can come from curious inquiry and constructive feedback. If we are to empower others, then these feedback loops become key for effective distribution and governance as the pace of change soars when collective energy is unleashed.
Creating this culture takes time but it starts with the leaders. When leaders are held accountable for their growth and development, they are more likely to make meaningful changes. This requires both external accountability (e.g., regular check-ins with a coach or mentor) and internal accountability (e.g., self-reflection and setting personal goals). By embedding feedback loops and accountability structures into leadership development, we can ensure that progress is sustained over time. When this becomes common practice and is modelled across an organisation, it becomes embedded as part and parcel of being in a healthy, developmental and impactful organisation.
Key takeaway: Build a culture of feedback and accountability in leadership development, supporting leaders in their ongoing growth journey.
7. Impactful Change
There are a multitude of ways to measure impact from data gained through a range of metrics including key performance indicators, benchmarking and a whole host of statistical and qualitative analysis to name but a few. Metrics are essential to ensure effective monitoring and that our efforts are efficient and targeted towards the desired change.
For change to be lasting, it has to come from a collective, clear and consistent effort. Leaders are pivotal in bringing this to fruition and must have the competence and capacity to do so.
Through understanding the values and development of others leaders can craft roles and opportunities for their team members to collaborate in a collective effort to meaningful impact. Just like human development, the path to meaningful impact is rarely linear. Leaders must be flexible, ready to pivot strategies based on feedback, new challenges, or evolving needs while maintaining their commitment to the desired outcomes. Leading for impact focuses on creating changes that endure. Leaders ensure that the systems, policies, and practices they establish will continue to deliver value long after their tenure but they can only do this with a strong foundation of self-awareness in a culture that thrives on development.
Conclusion
To achieve the maximum impact in leadership development, we need to go beyond traditional training methods and embrace a more holistic, developmental approach. By integrating principles of human development with developmental coaching, we can create leaders who are self-aware, emotionally intelligent, purpose-driven, with the capabilities and capacity to navigate the complexities of education leadership.
Leadership development should not be about checking off boxes on a competency list—it should be about nurturing the whole person, supporting their growth through each stage of their leadership journey. When we take this approach, the impact goes far beyond individual leaders—it transforms entire organisations and the communities they serve. The key differentiator to our delivery is that, because it is human, it always comes back to the learners we serve. Transformational leadership builds transformative education.
If you are interested in exploring cutting edge coaching or team opportunities further for either yourself or your team and the benefits it can offer more widely for your organisation, we would be delighted to discuss options further. Please book a discovery call or contact us at info@glasshouselab.com.
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