Leadership Stalled? We Can Help.

Do you find yourself or the leadership of your organization in a stalled state? Here’s why: Each stage in a professional’s career is marked by specific and identifiable behaviors, skills and attitudes that are central to success. Unless you know the key changes that take place in a professional career, you can’t adequately plan for leadership and professional development. Can you pinpoint these stages and changes that must take place in order to produce powerful leadership? Yes. The Dalton and Price model is helpful in illustrating the key stages in a professional’s career. This model identifies four stages of a professional’s contribution to an organization.

Stage 1 

The Learner/Helper is developing the necessary skills to be competent on the job. 








Stage 2 

The Leader/Manager is supervising, organizing and developing others while still focusing on usingtheir own core technical and professional skills. 

Stage 3 

The Specialist/Expert is using technical and professional expertise as an individual contributor, member of a team or team leader focused primarily on execution.







Stage 4 

The Leader/Strategist/Visionary is taking a broad strategic view, utilizing leadership competencies beyond their original technical expertise and engaging others to help them contribute their best.

This model has been successfully applied to a range of professions including law, teaching and medicine as well as functional multidisciplinary teams such as marketing, IT, finance and general management.

Most professionals recognize which of the four stages best describes their current role. What most don’t recognize is what skills and behaviors are essential for success at each stage.

Our leadership work at Koliso helps individuals become better Stage 3 leaders and assists those who aspire to Stage 4. Contact us to learn more. Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting some of the key skills necessary for leadership success.

Be sure and follow the Koliso blog (upper right corner) for updates as soon as they are posted.

Dalton, G., Thompson, P., and Price (1977). The four stages of professional careers: a new look at performance by professionals. Organizational Dynamics., 6, Number 1, 23.

Dalton, G., and Thompson, P. (1986). Novations: Strategies for Career Management. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman and Company.