We exist to nurture the development of leaders, coaches and consultants working to create thriving and life-affirming organisations, institutions and communities.
The challenges we are facing as individuals, organisations and a global community are complex and adaptive and require a new way of making sense as leaders if we are to respond effectively. A way of seeing, thinking and being that can:
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More fully navigate and respond to interdependent systems,
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Exercise leadership that is collaborative and
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Support people to stay healthy and productive when facing uncertainty and ambiguity.
From our many years of experience in the field, we are clear that evolving these capacities requires a new approach to growth and development; an approach that focuses on ”vertical” as well as “horizontal” development. Our focus is on bringing the adult developmental perspective to the leadership, coaching and consulting community through the Leadership Maturity Framework.
We deeply appreciate the privilege it is to work with individuals and organisations engaged in their own growth and development. We recognise that while this work can be engaging and life giving, it can also be challenging, confronting and sometimes lonely.
We therefore have two distinct commitments:
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To bring the lens of adult ego-developmental and the Leadership Maturity Framework to the practice of leadership, leadership development and organisational transformation and,
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To establish a collaborative network of practitioners and change agents committed to supporting each other and to creating environments that honour and optimise the gifts and contribution of people at every developmental stage.
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In 2006 Maja Stanojevic-Andre partnered with Dr Suzanne Cook-Greuter, the globally renowned adult development theorist, to co-design and deliver the first advanced skills training in adult development and the Leadership Maturity Profile for coaches, consultants and business leaders across Australia.
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In 2010 Maja formally established the Institute for Developmental Coaching to further expand and enhance this work, and thought leaders from many coaching schools and consulting disciplines have completed the LMF training. Maja is particularly proud that the importance and need for the “Vertical Development” perspective to complement the already familiar practices of “Horizontal Development” is now being incorporated into the fabric of the Australian coaching and consulting community.
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In 2014 Dr Cook Greuter stopped traveling to the region and Maja continued to expand and deepen the work, which is enriched by her own studies into contemporary leadership development theory, therapeutic practice and traditional wisdoms.
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In 2015 Angela Williamson, a leadership development and OD practitioner with over 20 years experience, attended the LMF accreditation training and the experience completely transformed her own practice and view of leadership development. With Maja’s support and partnership she led a large scale leadership and organizational development intervention using the LMF as the primary developmental architecture.
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In 2019 Angela joined Maja at the Institute for Developmental Coaching.
Maja is a pioneer of the Leadership Maturity Framework and LMF developmental coaching practice. As a doctor, psychiatrist and leading management consultant, Maja has been a leading contributor to the development of this dynamic theoretical framework, and its application to individual and organisational development for over 20 years.
Initially in partnership with Dr Suzanne Cook-Greuter, the globally renowned adult development theorist, Maja introduced this body of work to the Asia Pacific region in 2006 and she continues to forge new ground in our understanding and appreciation of this rich developmental landscape.
Maja deeply honours the academic foundations of the LMF and in particular the work of Dr Jane Loevinger, the original thought leader in the field. To these foundations she adds a wealth of knowledge and experience from neuroscience, psychotherapy and ancient wisdoms to weave a rich tapestry of insights into human behaviour and human development that bring the LMF to life.
As a facilitator Maja brings her full self to support the learning process. She draws on her personal experiences of escaping war in Bosnia and witnessing the end of apartheid in South Africa, and her professional experience consulting with large corporate professional services firms and smaller entrepreneurial business and brings a remarkable diversity and deep wisdom to the learning process. She embraces all the beauty and messiness of being human and brings a profound love and appreciation for each person’s individual development journey, creating learning spaces where everyone feels held and deeply honoured.
Maja continues to expand the awareness and understanding of the LMF across the Region, delivering public LMF programs across Australia and Asia. She is increasingly engaged to deliver in-company LMF training for organisational leaders recognising the need to expand their personal leadership capacity and evolve their organizational culture to more effectively and adaptively face, survive and thrive in an increasingly Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world.
Angela is a highly skilled and experienced Leadership and Organisational Development leader, coach and consultant who has been fascinated with the “ontology” or “being” of leadership for almost 30 years.
Angela started out her professional life in community development where she partnered with leaders across the UK to engage in the often difficult work of addressing complex social justice challenges in their communities.
Since transitioning into the corporate leadership and organisational development world in the mid 1990’s, Angela has had the opportunity to support some of the best known organisations in the UK, NZ and Australia to fulfil on their strategic leadership and organisational development aspirations.
Already a skilled leadership development architect and a powerful executive coach, discovering the LMF completely transformed Angela’s perspective and the context of her practice. Having worked for many years with high quality 360 processes and leadership style measures, she was deeply moved by the profound impact that bringing this “vertical’ perspective had on the individuals and teams that she worked with.
Having led transformational work in environments as complex as health care, as fast as retail and as technically demanding as resources, Angela brings real insights and a touch of pragmatism that supports our participants make the difference that they want to make in challenging organisational contexts.
Angela is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy Art and Practice of Leadership Development Program, the Global Being A Leader Program and a certified Warm-Data Lab Host with the International Bateson Institute she also offers a wealth of developmental practices that support both horizontal and vertical growth.