Unlock greater self-awareness and go beyond what you think is possible.

We live in a rapidly evolving world, where the demands on how we, upon reaching adulthood, are expected to show up in our work have never been greater. We are led to assume that by a certain age or after achieving a certain significant milestone—like earning a degree, being appointed CEO, or starting a family—we will have arrived at that point in our lives with the capacities needed to thrive. Yet, as research and experience show, this isn’t always the case.

Up to 60% of us arrive at adulthood without the tools (psychological, physiological, or otherwise) to navigate the complexities of modern life and thrive as adults. 

It is not the degree someone holds or whether or not they have a partner or children that truly indicates an adult human’s development stage. Psychologically, we define someone to be an adult as someone who can make choices for themselves and doesn’t need someone to tell them what to do. Developmentally, we define that an adult who is fully developed has an internal voice, is self-directed, and can navigate across competing ideas and perspectives without subsuming their own. 

This is where developmental coaching comes in. This kind of coaching supports individuals on their developmental journey, to flourish at their growth edge by unlocking deeper self-awareness, and to increase their capacity to navigate complexity and ability to lead others well.

So, what is a growth edge? 

A growth edge is an opportunity to step outside of your comfort zone and develop new ways of thinking and being. At our growth edge, we are often met with discomfort, where our current capacities need to stretch and evolve to meet the world around us. It’s not just about picking up new skills, it’s actually about transforming how you see the world and how you operate within it.

How Growth Edge Coaching facilitates development

Unlike other types of coaching, which might focus on skills or behavior, Growth Edge Coaching is a coaching approach created by colleagues at Cultivating Leadership that delves deeper into the underlying ways a person makes sense of the world—their “form of mind” – the truths they hold or stories they tell themselves and others.

Listening for meaning

One of the key practices in Growth Edge Coaching is listening for distinctions in meaning-making. Coaches trained in this approach are not just hearing what their clients say; they’re listening for the patterns and structures that shape their clients’ experiences. This allows coaches to uncover areas where clients are stuck and where growth can occur. Following are three common patterns we hear when we listen for meaning–practices which, when held out for the client to examine, can often result in significant developmental shifts that make new things possible:

Seeing the equals

When the client can’t see the difference between what feels true to them and what is necessarily true, we would call these two ideas equal. In the client’s mind, the two ideas have become so much the same that they cannot reflect on those ideas objectively. I noticed that one of my clients, for example, who continually found herself overlooked for promotion despite her consistently strong performance, seemed to equate being a good manager with always being completely transparent. By hearing and examining this apparent equivalence, my client was able to examine this previously unexamined assumption and see that, in some situations, the” good manager = 100% transparent all the time” equation can sometimes be limiting and therefore begin to explore alternate possibilities. 

Building bridges 

During times of developmental transition, people often have parts of themselves that are more evolved and others that are less so. Coaches trained in Growth Edge practices can help support clients to see these gaps by putting the client’s expansive and narrower selves into conversation in order to build a bridge between them. This enables clients to then be more able to draw on their more expansive selves to support areas where they may still feel constrained. It is not uncommon for my clients, for example, to have a part of themself that has access to a fully formed internal voice when it comes to managing their own team but not so much when interacting with their peers. In such a case, the coach can encourage them to draw on their more expansive self where no authority is needed to instruct them on what to do, as a bridge to grow towards being more able to consistently rely on their own self-authored voice in more complex situations.

Noticing tethers

Sometimes people have one small piece of themselves that holds them back. This isn’t as widely contextual as the expansive/narrow self-described above but is more specific to a single idea or relationship. For example, one of my coaching clients appears to be fully self-authored but continues to call herself a people pleaser, a little thing that has big consequences for her leadership because it provides her with a convenient excuse when she has yielded to pressure. Coaches can look for a single idea (or relationship) that seems to have an unusual pullback to an earlier stage of development. By helping clients identify and explore these tethers, coaches can see if it is open for exploration and facilitate breakthroughs that enable significant growth.

The benefits for both coach and client

The beauty of this type of coaching lies in its dual impact—it’s beneficial for both the coach and the client. For clients, this approach offers a structured way to navigate their growth edge, providing the tools and support needed to develop a new way of being that is more aligned and able to handle the demands of their lives.

For coaches, engaging in Growth Edge Coaching deepens their ability to listen, understand, and facilitate transformative growth. It’s an approach that challenges both parties to grow together, making it a truly collaborative and developmental journey.

Embracing the journey of growth

Growth as an adult isn’t always easy. But with the right support, moving through our growth edges can lead to profound development. Growth Edge Coaching provides a supportive framework and growth partners to make the journey both meaningful and enjoyable. 

Whether you’re a coach looking to deepen your practice or someone seeking to navigate life’s complexities with more grace and resilience, Growth Edge Coaching can offer a path forward.

• Read Jennifer’s book, Changing on the Job
• Grow with support from one of our coaches
• Learn the Growth Edge Coaching practice at an upcoming course (you don’t need to be a coach to do this course/benefit from it).