The missing axis of the 9 box Grid

Organization around the world have embraced the 9 box Grid as their preferred framework for their Talent reviews.

Despite its wide use however, business professionals still confuse the 2 dimensions of performance and potential; linking one with the other. Recent publications have done great job at clarifying the conceptual model that distinguish them both. We can now rely on solid research-based explanations, including :

• Performance should take into account lag measures and lead measures. Organizations need to emphasize an effort-based definition of performance (lead measures) instead of relying exclusively on an outcome-based definition of it.
• Potential should take into account (1) the notion of "Predictors of success", the supportive qualities that help individuals in facing the many challenges of organizational life. Also, potential should take into account (2) the specific attributes needed by organization to distinguish themselves from their competitors (see the concept of Value Curve for more information).

If tremendous effort has been put into supporting individuals in bringing their potential out more often and maximizing their performance level, we observe the emergence of a third component which proves to become more and more important at leadership level, namely: the concept of maturity.

Rather ill-defined, the concept of maturity is best translated by Nick Petrie through the concept of "Vertical Development", although it also encompasses additional facets like emotional intelligence, authenticity, etc.

As Nick Petrie says in his CCL's white paper " We all know that leaders think differently from each other, but most of us aren’t aware that they also think from different developmental stages. If you can’t see those stages, you are missing half the developmental picture [...] Vertical Development refers to advancement in a person’s thinking capability. The outcome of vertical stage development is the ability to think in more complex, systemic, strategic, and interdependent ways. It is about how you think, which we can measure through stage development interviews and surveys".

Concluding that vertical development is another word for strategic thinking is a false assumption. Vertical development has less to do with strategic thinking (although it influences it greatly) and has more to do with growing up (not growing old). Psychological maturity has direct implications on the culture of an organization and influences staff engagement, organizational climate, employee's development and well-being at work.

Unfortunately, initial discussions with organizations indicate that Business leaders and HR Professionals are not yet willing to formally integrate maturity as a core concept of their talent development framework, despite the fact that at an individual level, the need for more mature leaders is widely acknowledged.

The day corporations integrate the concepts of maturity as a key pillar of their leadership framework would mark a fundamental (r)evolution in the business world.