33 - Robert Kegan: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organisation

"Our attempts to grow adults…..through executive coaching programs, mentoring and leadership programs are all happening for too few people, going on too far away from the organisation and happening too infrequently.” The above quote is from this podcasts guest Robert Kegan, renowned Harvard psychologist and author of some of our favourite books on development. He makes a passionate case of the need for a very different type of organisation. It’s time, Robert says, to create genuine growth cultures, where everyone, not only the high potentials, are engaged in growing to their fullest potential. This means going beyond the typical approach most companies take to people development, a sprinkling of elective coaching here and there and an offsite every three months if you’re lucky. This means no less than baking the growth of your people into the day-to-day activities of the company. Robert and his team spent time within companies that do exactly just that, what he calls deliberately developmental organisations. (including Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater) By tuning in you’ll hear the principles and practices that they use to remarkable effect.