Construction Genius The Window of Tolerance: Managing Your Nervous System Under Pressure
Leadership development can take two distinct types: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal growth targets on adding new skills, knowledge, and competencies broadening what a leader can do. Vertical development, on the other hand, alters how a leader thinks, perceives, and responds. This enables leaders to handle complexity, stress, and uncertainty by increasing maturity, emotional regulation, and perspective. While horizontal development can make a leader more capable in the short term, vertical growth boosts their ability to inspire and create lasting value. However, to achieve sustainable leadership impact, understanding both is the key.
Ryan Gottfredson is a leadership expert, author, and researcher specializing in vertical development and organizational psychology. He is the founder and owner of Ryan Gottfredson LLC. He helps organizations vertically develop their leaders primarily through focusing on mindsets. He is also a leadership professor at the College of Business and Economics at California State University-Fullerton. Ryan is the author of the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller ‘Success Mindsets: The Key to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work, & Leadership’. He joined us today to talk about vertical development, which transforms leaders at their core.
HIGHLIGHTS
[02:25] Vertical development vs. horizontal development.
[05:00] Maturity in vertical development.
[07:19] Self-protection vs. value creation.
[11:26] Developing metacognitive skills.
[15:30] Jim Collins' Level 5 Leadership Framework.
[23:12] Challenges of level 5 leadership.
[27:13] The window of tolerance.
[32:00] Managing stress at the moment.
[35:50] Practical strategies to manage stress.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
-
Notice if your instinct under pressure is to protect yourself or create value.
-
Resist the emotional comfort that can come at the expense of long-term innovation and growth.
-
Even transformational leaders have flaws, accept imperfection.
-
Prioritize value creation over self-protection.
-
Recognize your current ‘window of tolerance’ and notice what triggers you out of it.
-
Manage stress proactively and avoid slipping into the self-protection mode.
RESOURCES
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't
by Jim Collins
amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996
Connect with Ryan Gottfredson
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/ryangottfredson/
Website - ryangottfredson.com/
Instagram - instagram.com/ryangottfredson/
Amazon - amazon.com/stores/author/B07WVT2Z8T
Orange County Restaurant Recommendations (Bonus!) https://www.elfarolitomex.com/ https://www.tacosloscholos.net/
90-Day High-Performance Dashboard
You can't afford to let your people drift.
To drive real performance, you must coach with clarity and purpose.
Use the 90-Day High-Performance Dashboard to:
-
Get clear on what matters most.
-
Drive focused action and accountability.
-
Strengthen trust and deepen relationships.
Success doesn't happen by accident.
It happens when leaders coach with precision and consistency.
Download the 90-Day High-Performance Dashboard here: https://www.constructiongenius.com/high-performance-in-a-new-role
Coach your team toward real results — one conversation at a time.
Resources to Help You Win in Construction
📖 Construction Genius Book – No B.S., practical, hands-on leadership, strategy, sales, and marketing advice for construction companies. Click this link to buy the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Construction-Genius-Effective-Hands-Leadership/dp/B0BHTRDY1T/
🎯 The Shift: Move from Project Builder to People Leader – Master the leadership skills you need to succeed in construction. Click this link to learn more and enroll: https://theshift.constructiongenius.com
☎️ Book a 10-Minute Call with Eric Anderton – If you want to discuss how I can help you coach your leaders, let’s connect. Book a 10-minute conversation here: https://10minutes.youcanbook.me
🎧 Subscribe & Share If this episode hit home, share it with your sales team. And don’t forget to leave a review—it helps more construction leaders find Construction Genius!