Leadership development focuses on developing the skills we need to flourish in our work environments and can be described as occurring in two directions: horizontal and vertical. Both are necessary for us to be effective leaders.   

 Horizontal development enables us to become more skilful and adept at things we already do, for example, improving our people and systems management practices, improving productivity, or increasing customer satisfaction. 

Vertical development enhances our capacity to employ our skills under increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) circumstances. Vertical development helps all of us, irrespective of whether or not we are in a formal leadership role, to lead more effectively, even when much of what we encounter from situation to situation may be new to us. Through vertical development activities we become versatile and visionary, able to learn our way through previously unknown situations, and are more equipped to thrive in the VUCA world.

As we enhance our capacity through vertical development we are able to better express and utilise the skills and knowledge we have developed through horizontal development.