Post-traumatic growth

Leadership Development

Post-Traumatic Growth: The Silver Lining Of Uncertain Times

There’s no denying we’re living in stressful times with a global pandemic still impacting many of us, supply chain disruptions, the shift to working from home, not to mention rapid technological change, climate change, rising costs of living and the war in Ukraine. The list goes on.

Uncertainty and upheaval have become key features of our personal and professional lives.

The pressure is also on organisations 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 there is an upside to all this disruption, distress and uncertainty – the opportunity for post-traumatic growth.

It’s long been recognised that dealing with traumatic events can in fact 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 right support to grow.

Post-traumatic growth is a concept that was first created by psychologists Richard Tedeschi (PhD) and Lawrence Calhoun (PhD) 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 (e.g. Joseph & Linley, 2008; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004; Infurna & Jayawickreme, 2019) have looked at how people grow from adversity including the transformatory role traumatic events can play in fostering growth.

The impact of the last two years can be described as a chronic trauma (as opposed to an acute trauma such as a one-off incident). Covid 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.

But in these current times, where we have experienced huge shocks and discomfort, there may in fact be opportunities to experience faster growth than under normal circumstances. This is what’s referred to as post-traumatic growth.

In his book Over Our 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 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.

What does a vertical development journey look like?

Over the course of a lifetime, adults may embark on an “adult development” otherwise known as “vertical development” journey. Adults don’t have to grow. They don’t have to go on the journey, but workplaces and personal life can provide considerable opportunities to do so. Sometimes, this is referred to as “lived experiences”. As children, much of our growth comes from the education system. But as adults, our opportunities to grow or develop come largely from lived experiences. There is no destination at the end of the journey. It’s an ongoing process that we may choose to continue for our entire lives. (For insight into the difference between horizontal learning and vertical development, see my blog post here). One metaphor for vertical development is that of a growing tree. Have you ever noticed the growth rings in a tree trunk? Each ring includes every earlier ring. It’s kind of the same for people. We have defined stages (rings) which we must travel through, before moving past to the next stage. Or you could think of it more like bridges. A bridge needs two solid foundations at each end, and we need the forward momentum, courage and persistence to transverse the bridge. Each stage brings gifts. Each stage also brings a little more capacity to handle complexities, uncertainties, ambiguities. Each stage tends to bring a little more curiousity, open inquiry, interest or tolerance in differences, humility, and willingness to work in truly mutual collaborations. And at each stage (ring) we bump up again our “growing edges” of which we may have many! (Speaking for myself here!)

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 (note it’s impossible to be sure of someone’s development stage by observation alone). By reflecting on situations with your 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 report? 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 journey. It is not an event and it does take time. Each advancing stage of development brings wider perspectives and bigger capacities for managing uncertainty and complexity.

So how do we grow our development capacity?

There are several prerequisites to move from one stage of adult development onto 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 anymore, 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 it 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 this field. “I think the biggest obstacle to our growth is how scary it is to grow,” she says. “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, there is a lot of loss that comes with growth, and as we imagine ourselves being different we have to let go of who we are today. This is very difficult as we get more and more attached to ourselves over time.”

Another key ingredient in the adult development journey is ongoing reflection. When leaders and managers use coaches and other processes to help them make sense, then it helps them to see and navigate more complex and expanded worldviews. As John Dewey famously said: “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.”

Exposure to a diverse range of perspectives is also important. 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 using vertical development tools and learning partnerships.

The final component is personal impact. Does improving your vertical development matter to you? Do you want and need to improve? If it does not, an individual is unlikely (at a conscious or subconscious level) to risk the time, energy or discomfort that embarking on vertical development is likely to involve.

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 still 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 the best way to avoid feeling in over your head.

References

• https://www.springleadership.com/insights/what-is-vertical-development

• https://www.springleadership.com/insights/2021-spring-leadership-magazine

• https://managemagazine.com/interview/interview-jennifer-garvey-berger-how-to-overcome-obstacles-adult-development/

• https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210203-after-the-covid-19-pandemic-how-will-we-heal

• https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-6527-6_5

• https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/post-traumatic-growth-finding-meaning-and-creativity-in-adversity/

• https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/11/growth-trauma#:~:text=Post%2Dtraumatic%20growth%20(PTG),often%20see%20positive%20growth%20afterward.

• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/post-traumatic-growth-from-adversity-nick-petrie/

• https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/post-traumatic-growth-finding-meaning-and-creativity-in-adversity/

• https://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Fixing-the-Growth-Illusion-New-Directions-for-Research-in-Resilience-and-Posttraumatic-Growth.pdf

• Kegan, R. (1994). In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life. Harvard University Press.

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