Where Do the Outstanding Leaders Go to Think?

Leadership theory sounds abstract until it explains the world as we experience it.

Robert Kegan’s work on adult development offers a language for why some leaders thrive in complexity while others retreat to control, consensus, or chaos. It also explains why wisdom, courage and imagination remain rare at the very moment they are most needed.

Level 1: The Imperial Leader 

At Kegan’s early stage — sometimes called imperial — the world is viewed through personal need, identity, and gain. Leadership here is fundamentally egocentric. It can deliver results in the short term, but at a high cost: narcissism, dominance, and zero-sum thinking.

In geopolitics, we see this in strongman heads of state. In business, in the “visionary” who must always be the smartest person in the room. Control substitutes for collaboration; certainty substitutes for judgment.

Level 2: The Socialised Leader 

The next stage — the socialised mind — leads by belonging. Approval, norms, and expectations become the compass. Historically, this was highly adaptive. When the world changed slowly, mass markets rewarded conformity and incremental improvement.

Most people still live here. Levels 1 and 2 combined represent around 63% of the adult population. They define what feels “normal.”

But consensus moves slower than complexity. And as technology, geopolitics, AI and cultural change accelerate, the socialised leader risks becoming responsible yet reactive — the leader who waits for certainty in a world that no longer provides it.

Level 3: The Self-Authoring Leader 

Around one-third of adults now operate at Level 3. This shift does not come from trend, but from necessity. When Level 2 strategies fail, people hit a developmental wall. They either regress into defence, or grow into autonomy.

Self-authoring leaders possess an internal compass. Decisions are guided not by approval but by values. They can think outside the box because they are no longer defined by the box. Courage becomes functional rather than theatrical.

Level 3 represents the threshold for modern leadership: the point at which independent judgment becomes necessary for emotional balance and strategic relevance.

Levels 4 & 5: The Self-Transforming Frontier 

Beyond self-authoring lie the self-transforming stages — Levels 4 and 5. These are rare, just over 1% of the population, yet possibly the most suited to a world defined by discontinuity.

Identity becomes fluid rather than fixed. Contradictions become sources of insight rather than threat. These leaders integrate logic and intuition, systems and humanity, speed and reflection. They don’t merely manage change — they grow with change.

Two Very Different Ways of Feeling Safe 

Here is the developmental twist:

• Levels 1 & 2 feel safe through control and familiarity.
• Levels 3–5 feel safe through self-knowledge and adaptability. 

The brain prefers the familiar. For most, “familiar” means no change. But for higher-level leaders, familiarity lies in evolution — because change does not threaten their identity.

This is why Levels 3–5 can appear “idealistic,” “too woke,” or simply unsettling to the majority. They disrupt norms the majority depend on for psychological safety.

The Minority Problem 

Levels 3–5 may be adaptive in complexity — but they are also a minority. And minorities cannot assume the world will understand them.

Where do these leaders go for safety and support when making decisions they cannot outsource?

They cannot lean on Level 2; it will urge conformity.
They cannot lean on Level 1; it will urge control.
And they cannot easily reveal uncertainty; higher-level thinking looks like dissent until it succeeds.

In moments of genuine consequence, these leaders are often alone.

The Risk of Seeking Support at Lower Levels 

If higher-level leaders seek advice from Level 1 or 2 leaders (or advisors), they are typically misunderstood — and often inadvertently undermined. Not from malice, but from mismatch.

Level 1 advises through ego and dominance.
Level 2 advises through approval and consensus.

Both encourage regression: “tone it down,” “be realistic,” “don’t rock the boat.” Regression masquerades as prudence. Over time, innovation dulls, confidence fades, and the leader collapses back into the levels the future no longer rewards.

Decisions That Cannot Be Outsourced 

Every senior leader eventually confronts decisions that cannot be delegated — decisions involving meaning, responsibility and consequence.

Data can help.
Consultants can advise.
AI can model scenarios.
But judgment must be owned.

These are the moments that shape companies, boards, markets and sometimes nations. They require wisdom, not just intelligence — and consciousness, not just competence.

The Real Leadership Question 

If the future rewards Levels 3–5, while the present is dominated by Levels 1–2, then the central leadership question becomes:

Where do the higher-level leaders go to think? 

Because if they cannot find safe spaces, they will either regress, isolate, or burn out — and the cost will be borne not only by individuals, but by organisations, societies and markets.

Written by Margot Cairnes.
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