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4D Leadership: Competitive Advantage Through Vertical Leadership Development
Today's leaders need to change radically to meet the challenge of complex organizations in business landscapes that are in flux. This requires a step-change in development in three fundamental how you do things, who you are, and how you relate to other people. 4D Leadership is what happens when this step-change in doing, being and relating takes place. When you move up to the next level of ability and sophistication in these three dimensions, you will have unlocked the fourth dimension (verticality) and you will receive a significant competitive advantage.
Neuroscientist and leadership coach Dr Alan Watkins draws on groundbreaking research into adult development to present a framework that will transform your ability to excel as a leader. 4D Leadership isn't just a software patch for leadership this is an upgrade to the next level of the human operating system, the next level of leadership development.
4D Leadership is the book anyone who feels overwhelmed by the competing priorities of their jobs; anyone who feels stressed by trying to maintain competitive advantage through innovation; anyone looking to develop a more responsive and rewarding strategy, drive change and take people with them, and become a truly rounded and 4-dimensional leader.
Neuroscientist and leadership coach Dr Alan Watkins draws on groundbreaking research into adult development to present a framework that will transform your ability to excel as a leader. 4D Leadership isn't just a software patch for leadership this is an upgrade to the next level of the human operating system, the next level of leadership development.
4D Leadership is the book anyone who feels overwhelmed by the competing priorities of their jobs; anyone who feels stressed by trying to maintain competitive advantage through innovation; anyone looking to develop a more responsive and rewarding strategy, drive change and take people with them, and become a truly rounded and 4-dimensional leader.
248 pages, Paperback
First published December 28, 2015
About the author
Alan Watkins
32 books50 followers"Alan Watkins is recognized as an international expert on leadership and human performance. He has a broad mix of commercial, academic, scientific and technological abilities. Over the past 18 years he has been a coach to many of Europe’s top business leaders and has helped companies treble share price, enter the FTSE 100, salvage difficult turnarounds and establish market leadership in their industry. He has written two books and has three more coming out this year. He advised the GB Olympic squad prior to London 2012 and is continuing to work with them leading up to Rio in 2016. He has a three degrees and is a neuroscientist by background."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 4, 2021
Thorough overview of models and development pathways
This was a good representation and explanation of the development models I also use in my work: ego development and leadership maturity, and the values spiral. Network mapping I’ve known as crafting sociometries, but their technology takes it to a whole new level.
Two frustrations: many of the next steps invoke getting profiles done through the author’s business (not that I’m against promoting one’s enterprise through one’s book). This had a deflating effect in many ways. The second frustration is the offering of key actions - these could have been even more specific.
Overall a good and solid read for leadership development and I am happy integral development is becoming more known through books like these. We need leaders to map and navigate complexity urgently!
This was a good representation and explanation of the development models I also use in my work: ego development and leadership maturity, and the values spiral. Network mapping I’ve known as crafting sociometries, but their technology takes it to a whole new level.
Two frustrations: many of the next steps invoke getting profiles done through the author’s business (not that I’m against promoting one’s enterprise through one’s book). This had a deflating effect in many ways. The second frustration is the offering of key actions - these could have been even more specific.
Overall a good and solid read for leadership development and I am happy integral development is becoming more known through books like these. We need leaders to map and navigate complexity urgently!
April 24, 2019
Another book where consultant explains how successful and smart he / she is. Great concepts, I really appreciate vertical development, but there is a serious lack of examples and tools for using this in the practice. Hope they will write some sort of workbook.
January 29, 2016
Develop your leadership skills to see an even-bigger picture and take a more complex overview of things; that is the promise of 4D Leadership as espoused through this book.
The author believes that executives can develop themselves “vertically”, expanding their abilities to see further, understand more, think better and be more agile in their interactions with people and situations. More complex affairs can be assessed and handled, it is claimed, without recourse to overly complicating matters. It is, in other words, just a new way of leading.
Yet to reach this exalted plane in business, you must first master the art of doing, being and relating. The author is quite clear. Not everybody gets it, even many who are sitting in very senior positions. They know no difference. They can be very good at the physical doing of stuff yet they are often running on empty when it comes to their sense of purpose (being) and how everything goes together (relating). The links are missing and even if terms such as identity, ethics, ego, culture and values are brought up they are invariably recognised, but the self-same executives just don’t see how to put them all together and have them working.
This was an interesting read, stretching the grey matter at times and leading to a fairly lengthy period of reflection. Even if you feel you may never inhabit a top leadership position, or suspect you will never figure out the true secret of 4D Leadership, then there is still hope and benefit from this book as you will probably pick up a lot of interesting insight and potential for self-improvement.
It would have been nice if the book could have been a little more accessible and open for the reader. Clearly there is a lot to read and a lot to take in, so anything that makes the process a little easier would have been welcome. The journey might be worth the struggle, yet if you are a weaker character maybe you might not start the journey at all if you know what awaits you.
The author believes that executives can develop themselves “vertically”, expanding their abilities to see further, understand more, think better and be more agile in their interactions with people and situations. More complex affairs can be assessed and handled, it is claimed, without recourse to overly complicating matters. It is, in other words, just a new way of leading.
Yet to reach this exalted plane in business, you must first master the art of doing, being and relating. The author is quite clear. Not everybody gets it, even many who are sitting in very senior positions. They know no difference. They can be very good at the physical doing of stuff yet they are often running on empty when it comes to their sense of purpose (being) and how everything goes together (relating). The links are missing and even if terms such as identity, ethics, ego, culture and values are brought up they are invariably recognised, but the self-same executives just don’t see how to put them all together and have them working.
This was an interesting read, stretching the grey matter at times and leading to a fairly lengthy period of reflection. Even if you feel you may never inhabit a top leadership position, or suspect you will never figure out the true secret of 4D Leadership, then there is still hope and benefit from this book as you will probably pick up a lot of interesting insight and potential for self-improvement.
It would have been nice if the book could have been a little more accessible and open for the reader. Clearly there is a lot to read and a lot to take in, so anything that makes the process a little easier would have been welcome. The journey might be worth the struggle, yet if you are a weaker character maybe you might not start the journey at all if you know what awaits you.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews