Leading with a Developmental Bias: Creating Sustainable Growth Systems
"A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves." — Lao Tzu
"Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge." — Simon Sinek
In our previous posts, we introduced the concept of leading with a developmental bias and explored Terry Cook's four essential practices for developing others. Today, we'll focus on creating sustainable systems that embed development into your leadership approach and transform your organization's culture.
Establishing Development as a Priority
To truly lead with a developmental bias, you need systems and structures that sustain your focus on growth. Here are key approaches recommended by Cook:
1. Create Individual Development Plans
Formalize development intentions through simple but specific plans for each team member:
Focus on a limited number of development priorities (2-3 at most)
Include both short-term (3-6 months) and longer-term (1-3 years) goals
Specify what success looks like for each priority
Identify specific actions, resources, and support needed
Establish regular check-in points to review progress
"People don't grow by accident, they grow by intention." — John Maxwell
Practical Action: Work with each team member to create a one-page development plan that captures these elements.
2. Establish Development Rhythms
Create regular rhythms that reinforce the developmental bias:
Weekly: Brief check-ins on development progress
Monthly: More extensive development conversations
Quarterly: Formal review of development plans
Annually: Comprehensive development assessment and planning
Practical Action: Block these developmental conversations on your calendar for the next six months, treating them as non-negotiable commitments.
3. Model Continuous Development
Leaders with a developmental bias actively pursue their own growth, modeling what they expect from others:
Share your own development goals and progress
Be transparent about your learning journey
Talk about what you're reading, learning, and practicing
Demonstrate vulnerability in areas where you're growing
"The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example." — John Wooden
Practical Action: Share your personal development plan with your team, and provide regular updates on your progress and learnings.
Maintaining Balance: Integration, Not Competition
While advocating for a developmental bias, Cook doesn't suggest abandoning concern for results. The goal is not to replace a production focus with a development focus, but to integrate them effectively.
This balance might be visualized as two intertwined spirals:
As people develop, they produce better results
Better results create more opportunities for development
More development leads to even better results
And the cycle continues upward
The key insight is that development and production aren't competing priorities but complementary ones. By prioritizing development, you ultimately enhance production—not despite focusing on growth, but because of it.
"We don't grow companies. We grow people who grow companies." — Raj Sisodia, co-founder of Conscious Capitalism
Building Development Into Your Leadership System
Creating sustainable growth requires intentional systems that make development a natural part of how you lead:
Restructure Your Meetings
Transform regular meetings to include development components:
Begin team meetings with a brief learning discussion
Include reflection questions about recent growth experiences
Share insights from books, courses, or conferences
Dedicate time to discussing challenges as learning opportunities
Redesign Performance Conversations
Shift performance discussions to emphasize growth alongside results:
Start with development progress before discussing performance metrics
Explore lessons learned from both successes and failures
Identify upcoming opportunities for skill building
Connect current performance to future development goals
Create Learning Opportunities
Look for ways to turn regular work into development experiences:
Assign projects that stretch people's current capabilities
Rotate responsibilities to build diverse skills
Facilitate peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing
Connect people with mentors in areas they want to develop
"The true measurement of a leader's success is revealed in the development of those they lead." — Mark Miller
From Transactions to Transformation
At its core, leading with a developmental bias transforms leadership from a primarily transactional activity to a transformational one.
Transactional leadership focuses on exchanges: work for compensation, effort for rewards, compliance for benefits. While necessary, this approach has limited potential to inspire, engage, and grow people.
Transformational leadership focuses on development: helping people become more capable, confident, and contributive. It engages not just hands and minds but hearts and aspirations.
As Cook notes, "We find few employees who really want to just put in the minimum hours to draw a paycheck. What's lying just below the surface is the longing to bring who they are and what they have to the table so as to make a difference."
Leading with a developmental bias responds to this deeper longing. It recognizes that people want not just to contribute but to grow—to become more tomorrow than they are today.
"The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great ideas can happen." — Simon Sinek
Measuring Development Success
To sustain a developmental bias, you need to track both development and production metrics:
Development Indicators
New skills acquired by team members
Increased responsibilities successfully handled
Leadership behaviors demonstrated
Knowledge shared with others
Progress on individual development plans
Production Indicators
Quality of work output
Achievement of team goals
Customer or stakeholder satisfaction
Process improvements implemented
Innovation and creative solutions
The key is tracking both sets of metrics and understanding how they reinforce each other over time.
Your Leadership Legacy
As you consider your leadership approach, remember that your most enduring legacy won't be the projects completed or metrics achieved under your leadership. Your true legacy will be the people you developed—what they became because of your investment in their growth.
Cook's model of trusted leadership clearly advocates for the developmental approach. By leading with a developmental bias, you not only achieve better results over time but also fulfill one of leadership's highest callings: helping others become the best versions of themselves.
"A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader. A great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves." — Eleanor Roosevelt
Getting Started
The shift to a developmental bias doesn't happen overnight, but you can begin immediately:
Assess your current balance: What percentage of your leadership time and energy goes to development versus production?
Start with one person: Choose one team member and create their first development plan together.
Block development time: Schedule your first month of weekly development check-ins.
Share your own development goals: Model the behavior you want to see.
Measure what matters: Add development metrics to how you track team success.
As you reflect on your own leadership, ask yourself: Are you approaching leadership primarily as a means of getting things done through people? Or as a means of developing people who get things done?
Your answer will determine not just your leadership impact but your leadership legacy.
How might a developmental bias change your approach to leadership? What one step could you take this week to shift more attention toward developing your team?
For a full treatment of this topic see: Lead Develop Care by Terry Cook