What if your company was going through puberty?
- Bastian Lindberg
- Oct 31
- 13 min read
What maturation in leadership means – an invitation to take a fresh look with Bill Plotkin's developmental map.
Imagine your organization were a person. Not the polished version from promotional videos and strategy presentations, but the true inner state. Would you say: This is a wise adult? Or rather a fairly skilled teenager – socially smart, performance-driven, focused on impact… but still searching within?
Perhaps that seems a bit provocative.
But when I look around, I often observe the following: decisions and strategies are frequently made from a perspective heavily influenced by security needs, status thinking, or short-term success goals. Yet, these very patterns can prevent us from pursuing more sustainable and holistic approaches—approaches that are essential for long-term development and a healthy balance within organizations.
Lately, I have been delving deeper into the work of Bill Plotkin. Plotkin is a psychologist, wilderness guide, and founder of the Animas Valley Institute; he combines depth psychology, nature experience, and cultural renewal. In his book "Nature and the Human Soul," he outlines a developmental model that portrays human maturation as a cyclical journey through eight life-phase archetypes – from early childhood to wise elderhood – and demonstrates how each phase has its own gifts that seek integration. This framework has inspired me to use it as a perspective for understanding my own behavior and to view leadership styles and organizational cultures from a new angle.
From the perspective of this eco-psychological development according to Bill Plotkin, one could say that many organizations (and their leadership teams) operate based on patterns ranging from early to late adolescence.
And that has consequences: Short-term orientation, self-worth derived from role and status, change-hopping instead of deep transformation, purpose as marketing rather than lived practice.
It is important for me to emphasize that this is not a devaluation. In Bill Plotkin's developmental model, all phases have meaning and value. Without the lively curiosity of the "Explorer" (Phase 2) or the identity and belonging work of early and late adolescence (Phases 3–4), there would be no differentiation, no innovation, no courage for visibility. My intention is not to criticize anything "immature." My concern is to honestly assess where we stand, whether it aligns with our current challenges – and what the next appropriate step could be. Maturity does not mean "getting rid of earlier phases," but integrating them – so they serve us instead of unconsciously controlling us.
💫 Brief Overview of the 8 Development Stages
Bill Plotkin's model describes eight nature- and soul-centered life stages that highlight the cycles and qualities of the natural world in human development. The framework serves as a guide to promote a more mature and fulfilling human experience by integrating personal growth with environmental awareness.
The Innocent in the Nest (early childhood): Safety, attachment, fundamental trust.
The Explorer in the Garden (middle childhood): Amazement, exploration, play with the world.
The Thespian at the Oasis (early adolescence): Affiliation, persona, social roles.
The Wanderer in the Cocoon (late adolescence): Identity crisis, search for meaning, detachment from borrowed identities.
The Apprentice at the Wellspring (early adulthood): Devotion to one's own gift, integration of vocation & contribution.
The Artisan in the Wild Orchard (late adulthood): Cultivation, long-term nurturing of systems, "gardening" of culture.
The Master in the Grove of Elders (early elderhood): Wise services, guiding transitions, mentoring.
The Sage in the Mountain Cave (late elderhood): Guarding the greater context, ark of memory.
Important: This is not a judgment of performance or value, but rather a developmental logic. However, Plotkin emphasizes—and this seems very plausible to me—that many modern societies encourage the extension or fixation in phases 3–4 (persona optimization, performance, self-marketing). As a consequence, we build organizations and institutions that precisely reproduce this.
How does "adolescent" leadership manifest in organizations?
If we overlay this map onto leadership, familiar images emerge: There is the explorer energy, playful and curious – perfect when we need something new. There is adolescence, where we sharpen belonging and persona – this provides drive and visibility. As young adults, we experiment with responsibility, test roles, and want to contribute. Mature adults are grounded in their contributions, think long-term, and see the system. And then there is wiser maturity, which guards transitions, serves the whole, and acts with greater composure.
„Adolescent leadership“ often becomes evident in impulsive and reactive decision-making, without truly pausing or deeply understanding the impact of those decisions. Frequently, status, visibility, and grand displays take center stage, acting as powerful motivational drivers. Conflicts are often avoided or escalate instead of being resolved collaboratively. Short-term thinking dominates – the focus is on having more, not necessarily better or more mature outcomes. The identity appears unstable: new labels emerge, but consistent execution and perseverance are often lacking. This isn’t necessarily "wrong," but it becomes problematic when this one-sidedness takes control in the long run.
Limiting patterns that can occur in the adolescence of organizations:
Persona over substance: Leadership is experienced as a stage. The right story, the perfect slide deck, the confident demeanor – often more important than genuine inner clarity. External appearance often matters more than actual content. The facade is maintained, while depth falls by the wayside.
Status as a substitute for self-worth: title, seat on the steering committee, proximity to management = identity anchor. Losing titles or positions is perceived as a personal downfall because inner value is tied to it.
Purpose as a marketing strategy: Mission statements and visions emphasize meaning and values, the company's purpose is displayed on the wall – but operational decisions are primarily driven by quarterly results and internal rivalries.
Superficial transformation: reactive change takes center stage, one new trend chasing the next, accompanied by constant reframing ("Next Transformation Wave"), without truly letting go of unresolved old issues.
Avoidance of conflict or overdramatization: Either "harmony-seeking" meetings followed by hallway gossip – or covert power plays. Problems are either ignored and swept under the rug or dramatically staged. Genuine, constructive discussions are missing.
Constant activism: There are plenty of projects and initiatives, but there is a lack of reflection, sustainability, and long-term impact.
We-against-them thinking: Us vs. the others (competitors, employees, unions, IT, HR …). The focus on the bigger picture and understanding of the larger ecosystem are often lost.
Innovation as an image: Hackathons, labs, "fail fast" – but hardly any structural adjustments (competency models, decision rights, incentives).
Why many organizations remain stuck in "adolescence"
Organizations often seem to stagnate in their development, failing to take the next step toward maturity. But why is that? Here are some reasons:
1. Incentive systems promote short-term thinking
Many companies reward quick results instead of acknowledging long-term strategies. This often leads to sustainable development being neglected. Incentives like bonuses, KPIs, and short-cycle evaluations promote short-term persona optimization. Narratives such as "fast, agile, disruptive" dominate over "mature, nurturing, sustainable".
2. Training and further education focus on tools rather than inner development
Further training often focuses on technical skills or methods, while personal development – such as self-reflection and emotional intelligence – is given less attention. Systemically this is being enhanced by socialization in business schools, where strategy and finance are often taught earlier than self-leadership and inner work.
3. Missing transition rituals
The transition from a specialist role to a leadership position is often not consciously managed. Without clear rituals or support, the shift remains bumpy and incomplete.
4. Chronic Overload
Constant overwhelm leaves no time for reflection and integration of new experiences. There's no opportunity to let what has been learned "mature," similar to a composting process.
To lead organizations out of this phase, targeted measures are needed that sustainably change both the culture and the structures.
What would mature advancement look like?
Mature integrated leadership feels different. Personal identity is shaped more by contribution than by role and rank. Decisions consider multiple time horizons – what does the next quarter need, the next year, the next generation? Conflicts are used as a resource: addressed early, processed together. Culture is consciously nurtured: relationships, transitions, and regeneration receive attention. The perspective extends beyond the organization – customers, employees, partners, Earth, and community are interconnected. And there is space for not knowing: slowing down briefly to see more clearly.
How can one recognize mature, integrated leadership?
There are some essential characteristics that demonstrate how leadership operates on a deeper level and enables sustainable success (corresponding to phases 5-6 in Plotkin's model).
1. Identity through contribution instead of title:
Truly mature leadership is not defined by rank or position but by the value it creates. It’s not about the title on the business card but about questions like: Who am I beyond my role? What impact do I want to have? What is my contribution to the whole? The focus here is on making a contribution and creating a positive difference.
2. Making decisions with foresight:
We often make decisions impulsively or on short notice. But what if we looked at them with a "broader horizon"? Short-term successes are important, but they're not enough. In a more mature stage, thinking extends further and becomes more long-term – not just in quarters, but in years, sometimes even across generations. Consideration is given to the long-term impacts decisions might have on the company, people, and the environment. This foresight demonstrates responsibility and sustainable thinking.
3. Seeing conflicts as an opportunity for growth:
Conflicts are inevitable, but a mature leadership approach does not view them as obstacles, but as opportunities for growth. Tensions and conflicts are not the end, but often the beginning of development. They do not shy away from addressing problems early and finding solutions together. This attitude not only promotes clarity but also strengthens trust and collaboration within the team.
4. Consciously nurture relationships:
Relationships are like a garden – they need care, attention, and patience. Mature organizations invest time and energy to strengthen the connections within and between teams, their partners, and other stakeholders. Focus is placed on what strengthens connections and what depletes them. Rituals, transitions, and shared learning processes don’t just happen by chance but are consciously designed.
5. Keep the bigger picture in mind.
A mature leadership perspective views the company not in isolation, but as part of a larger ecosystem. Customers, employees, suppliers, the environment, and the community – everything is interconnected. This holistic perspective helps in making decisions that benefit everyone involved.
6. Creating space for not knowing.
Nobody has all the answers, and that's perfectly okay. It takes courage to say, "I don't know right now." This space for not knowing can unleash collective wisdom when we feel, explore, and discover new solutions together. Mature companies and institutions consciously take and give time to pause, reflect, and gain new perspectives. They create room for reflection and invite the possibility of not knowing—because that's often where the discovery of new solutions begins.
7. Focus on talents and strengths:
People are more than resources. They carry unique potential within them that wants to be discovered and nurtured. When we recognize people at their core, they can flourish and give their best.
Leadership rooted in mature development patterns is more than just managing tasks. It's an art of striking the right balance between humanity, vision, and responsibility. It inspires others to surpass themselves and creates a foundation where sustainable success can thrive.
Important: Earlier phases remain available as a resource. "Gardeners" still need lively explorer energy. Older maturity phases without healthy play experiences often feel ascetic or dry.
🧪 Invitation to a quick self-check: From which developmental logic do you lead more often?
Answer spontaneously (no sugarcoating):
When criticism comes, I first think of:
My/Our image
What wants to be learned through us here?
Strategic work feels like:
Story for stakeholders
Collective listening to what wants to emerge
Under pressure to make decisions, I tend to:
Increase tempo
Downshift two gears – take a short pause
I mainly receive recognition through:
Visibility
Quiet impact over time
I usually perceive conflicts as:
Annoying, delaying
Resource for clarity and cultural enrichment
If you often end up with option a): There's a lot of vibrant adolescent energy at play. Great! Channel it consciously. If option b) applies more often: These maturity patterns are valuable – keep nurturing them.
Maturation arises through allowing emergence 🌱
Maturity is not a process that can be planned or managed like a project. Instead, it resembles tending to a garden: observing, nurturing, harvesting, resting – and then starting all over again. Each of these steps has its own value and contributes to the entire cycle in its unique way.
The true art lies in consciously perceiving and actively integrating each phase. It’s about not just passively being steered by circumstances but taking responsibility yourself. Just as a gardener knows the soil, cares for it, and gives it exactly what it needs to bear fruit, we should approach our own growth in the same way.
We often tend to view certain phases – whether it’s waiting, resting, or even observing – as less important. Yet, these very moments are crucial for long-term growth. They form the foundation upon which everything else is built. Without consciously nurturing the soil, no harvest will be possible.
It’s a cycle that teaches us patience, the art of letting go, and staying active at the same time. Maturity means giving each phase its space without rushing or skipping it. When we learn to embrace this natural rhythm, we can not only grow but also truly enjoy the fruits of our work and development.
Life itself reminds us that every phase has its place – and that it is our task to shape it with mindfulness and dedication. Maturity is not a goal to be achieved but an ongoing process that constantly challenges and enriches us.
If you’ve felt inspired to engage more consciously with this, here are a few exercises you can do alone or as a team. They can help with mindful reflection and personal growth.
Impulses for you alone
🪞 Persona Inventory
Write three dominant role statements: "I have to be ... in order to belong."
Ask yourself: What does each role protect? What does it keep away? Breathe into the bodily sensation that arises. Don't resolve—just witness.
🪑 Sit Spot (Nature-Awareness)
10–15 minutes daily (or 2x per week), quietly in the same spot (a windowsill with a view of a tree is enough). Don’t think about “strategy,” just perceive: observe sounds, movements, smells, emotions. Ask yourself: What has changed within me? Nature helps to step out of the narrow circle of your own persona and establish a connection to the bigger picture.
🎯 Decision Ritual: 3 Breaths + 3 Horizons
Before making an important decision: take 3 conscious breaths. Then spontaneously note down: short-term impact, impact on a yearly perspective, impact on people/ecosystems in 5–10 years. Only then, start discussing.
👤 Shadow-Sentence
If you get upset with someone else, complete: "I condemn X for …" and then "The part in me that also knows this is …". Moral superiority then transforms into an opportunity for growth and learning.
🧧 Contribution instead of a career question
Ask yourself for the next half-year: What contribution (not: which project) wants to come into the system through me? Whom or what does it nourish? Which old activity needs to "die" to create space?
Impulses for you as a team/organization
👣 Body-Check-In
At the start of an important meeting: 30 seconds of silence, followed by each person sharing in one word how they feel: "This is how I am here." The result? More presence, less reactivity.
⭕️ Soulful Retrospective (i.e. monthly)
Not just: What happened? But rather: What wanted to express itself through us that we didn’t allow? What wanted to be completed that we held onto so tightly?
🗺️ Expand Ecosystem Map
Don't just think about customers and suppliers. Also consider the Earth/resources, the community, potential future employees, and affected non-customers. Which decisions are currently ignoring their perspectives?
💧 Role Ecology Review
Instead of just focusing on traditional job descriptions: What recurring "energy flows" actually shape our team? Tasks like conflict resolution, culture nurturing, storytelling, or regeneration are often invisible but essential. Who is truly taking on these roles? Are there perhaps imbalances we should address? And even more importantly: Are these often underestimated caregiving tasks truly recognized and appreciated?
🧫 Decision-making Experiment
Choose a recurring decision type and implement an inclusive decision-making logic for two months: make a proposal – gather objections – improve together – make a decision. Observe how the sense of responsibility and initiative within the team changes.
🍂 Rite of Passage
When someone leaves a role: A brief reflection within the team – what contributions has this person made? What will continue to endure? What will consciously come to an end with their departure? An often underestimated approach to avoid "cultural phantom pain."
📋 Cultural Debt List
Analogy to tech debt: Cultural debt is comparable to technical debt: it arises from accumulated tensions, unresolved behavioral patterns, or imbalances between communicated values and actual practiced behavior. This debt can gradually drain energy, trust, and the ability to learn. It’s not about "mistakes," but rather the consequences of neglected cultural maintenance work.
Template "Cultural Dept List"
You can download a detailed guide on how to create and resolve the 'Cultural Dept List' here.
Caution, pitfalls on the path to development
There are some stumbling blocks we might encounter when setting out to bring more meaning and depth into our personal or professional lives. Here are a few thoughts on how we can recognize and avoid these challenges:
Quickly adopting purpose-driven language without doing the inner work is often just a superficial makeover. It might sound great when a team suddenly starts talking about "purpose" and "values," but without genuine reflection, it often stays at the surface. It becomes a cosmetic upgrade with little to do with real change.
Another example is ticking off concepts like "nature reflection" as if they were on a checklist—"We’re doing the sit spot now because it’s on the list." When such practices are carried out mechanically but not truly integrated into our (work) lives, they become just another "persona trick." It looks good but feels inauthentic.
Pathologizing others—for instance, saying things like "Those at the top are immature"—doesn’t help us move forward either. Such judgments only deepen the divide between us and others. True growth requires compassionate self-honesty. It’s about questioning ourselves without condemning others.
A particularly important point: We can’t simply skip the phase of adolescence. In personal development, as well as in teams or organizations, it’s essential to go through phases 3 and 4 (however one defines them). They must not be denied but consciously integrated to achieve true maturity.
In summary: Genuine transformation takes time, patience, and an honest confrontation with oneself. It’s not about quickly creating a new image or judging others but about growing authentically. By recognizing the pitfalls, we can avoid them—and set out on a path toward deeper connection and meaningfulness.
When external support might be helpful
Sometimes teams or organizations find themselves in situations where external support can make all the difference—especially when challenges keep recurring and seem to go in circles.
For instance, when conflicts aren't resolved but are constantly brought up again. Instead of creating clear transitions, people remain stuck in old patterns. This can be exhausting—for individuals as well as the entire team. That constant underlying sense of being overwhelmed makes it hard to find new energy.
There can also be stumbling blocks in self-organization: when processes that should rely on personal responsibility are suddenly dominated by hidden power structures. In such cases, an external perspective can help bring clarity and reveal underlying dynamics.
And then there are strategy cycles: plans are made, but little of them becomes sustainably anchored. A neutral outside view can help set priorities and develop long-term solutions.
External support brings a fresh perspective and can be crucial in breaking down barriers and getting back into a positive flow.
Any questions?
If you feel like it, I’m happy to be available for an informal chat to answer your questions or get to know each other.
❓Questions to contemplate over
What in my current leadership practice feels more like image management than contribution?
Which decision from the last 3 months could have been a maturity step if we had taken more time for presencing?
Where do I confuse speed with quality?
What might end in my area of responsibility – and I keep holding onto it out of habit?
Who in our system already acts as a "Culture Guardian" without it being recognized?
In conclusion
The question is not: "Am I / Are we mature enough?" But rather: "Am I / Are we ready to perceive where I / we stand – and take the next honest step?" Leadership that grows beyond adolescence becomes less glamorous – and at the same time more composed, calmer, and effective. It doesn’t just build products or processes, but creates living spaces for people and their contributions.
Maybe the first step today is: 3 breaths. And a quiet inner "Okay – I’m looking now." Maturity is not a sprint and not a KPI. It’s more like soil care: observing, nurturing, letting it rest, harvesting – and starting again.
PS: If someone calls it "esoteric": Just try the Cultural Debt round. Tangible energy gains are usually the most convincing argument. 😉
