From Individual to Collective: Rethinking Vertical Development in Teams - Sue Coyne & Fiona O'Connor

🎥 Recorded during the ‪@TeamCoachingCircle‬ in June 2026 From Individual to Collective: Rethinking Vertical Development in Teams Can teams develop vertically? Vertical development is well established in leadership development, helping individuals expand their capacity to navigate complexity, uncertainty, and difference. But what happens when we shift the lens from the individual leader to the team as a collective system? In this Team Coaching Circle conversation, Sue Coyne and Fiona O'Connor explore what vertical development means at the team level and why this question matters for team coaches working in increasingly complex organisational environments. Drawing on Sue's pioneering research into team-level vertical development, the discussion explores how teams develop collective consciousness, what enables or constrains that development, and the implications for team coaching practice, supervision, and contracting. 🔍 In this session, you'll discover: ✅ How vertical development can be understood at a team level ✅ What influences or constrains the vertical development of teams ✅ How leadership, context, and system dynamics shape team consciousness ✅ What team-level vertical development means for team coaching, supervision, and contracting ✅ Insights from Sue's research and the development of a team-based vertical development assessment 🧠 This session offers a fresh perspective for team coaches, leadership coaches, OD practitioners, and leaders seeking to better understand how teams increase their collective capacity to navigate complexity and work more effectively as systems. 👤 About the Speakers: Sue Coyne PCC, ACTC | Leadership & Systemic Team Coach | Faculty Member, Systemic Team Coaching Institute | Author Sue Coyne is a leadership and systemic team coach with over 20 years' experience as a business leader and coach. A member of the Academic Board and Leadership Team of the Systemic Team Coaching Institute, she leads the STC Team Development Essentials programme and serves as Practicum Lead on both the Practitioner and Senior Practitioner programmes. Passionate about raising consciousness, Sue has undertaken extensive training in vertical development and, since 2022, has researched vertical development in teams. She developed a team-level vertical development assessment that was piloted during the 2023/24 Senior Practitioner programme and is now being further developed in partnership with Global Leadership Associates. Sue is the author of the bestselling book Stop Doing, Start Leading and has contributed to several influential leadership and coaching publications, including *Leadership Team Coaching in Practice*, *Enabling Genius*, and *Leading Beyond the Ego*. Fiona O'Connor Executive & Team Coach | Systemic Team Coaching Practitioner Fiona O'Connor is a senior business coach and systemic team coaching practitioner with more than 25 years' experience supporting leaders and teams. She specialises in leadership development, culture change, and team effectiveness, bringing a strong systemic, relational, and reflective approach to her work. 🔔 Subscribe for more ‪@TeamCoachingCircle‬ conversations — research-informed insights, practitioner reflections, and practical frameworks for team coaching, leadership development, and systemic change. #TeamCoaching #VerticalDevelopment #SystemicTeamCoaching #TeamDevelopment #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamCoachingCircle #CollectiveLeadership #OrganisationalDevelopment #Complexity #TeamEffectiveness