“The hallmark of expertise is no longer how much you know. It’s how well you synthesize.

“Information scarcity rewarded knowledge acquisition. Information abundance requires pattern recognition.

“It’s not enough to collect facts. The future belongs to those who connect dots.”  — Adam Grant on Threads

In this one statement, Adam Grant, the Wharton organizational psychologist and bestselling author, captures what it now means to be a successful leader.

For years, business rewarded know-it-all leaders, managers, and employees. These experts were respected for their vast knowledge base. But now everyone who has an internet connection can access information to apply on the job.

However, knowing things can’t always help you decide what to do. Instead, we need learn-it-all-leaders who can connect dots, see patterns amidst complexity, and make sense of it all. Our VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) and BANI (brittle, anxious, nonlinear and incomprehensible) world is chaotic , especially since the pandemic.

What might seem simple can have many unintended consequences. For example, consider the move to remote work in March 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic forced many companies to close their physical offices. Remote work seemed a straightforward solution to keep businesses going and staying productive. We all pivoted to Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack to keep working while staying safe.

Now consider all the aftereffects that still pervade in 2024. Blurring of work-life boundaries. Mental health challenges. Minimal impromptu in-person meetings and interactions compared to the “Before Times.” Increased cybersecurity vulnerabilities of home networks. Disruption of the corporate real estate market. Conflicts between return to office requirements versus continued remote work versus hybrid arrangements.

We’re learning in real time why we need to challenge our thinking and be flexible as we try to make sense of the world around us and decide what actions to take. This involves observing situations, collecting data, synthesizing information,  making an effort to understand the complexity and seeing the relationships and linkages. By doing so, you not only see dots that many others miss; you’re able to connect them. As a result, you’re able to think and act in more complex, systemic, and interdependent ways because you’ve improved how you think, learn, and solve problems.

What distinguishes leaders and individuals who do these things from everyone else? Two things: 1) vertical stage development and 2) neuroplasticity.

First, vertical stage development is about you as an individual intentionally moving through successive levels of maturity. You’re focused on continuous learning to both deepen and clarify your thinking so you can address the complexity and make more meaning of the world. You also focus on building more capacity, especially by practicing self-care, which provides you with energy and stamina to help you perform. (Sleep, a nutritious diet, and exercise are most valuable for both your brain and your body.) And as you develop, you shift from always doing tactical, short-term thinking to thinking more strategically for longer time frames, and also being more visionary in your deliberations.

To make this shift, you need to make cognitive changes. This includes using a growth mindset to see more opportunities than threats. Identifying your values to guide you and help you align your beliefs and actions. Developing more emotional maturity and resilience. Becoming more self-aware. Improving how you manage your stress, allocate your energy, and manage ambiguous situations. Getting comfortable listening to more diverse perspectives. Reflecting on what you hear and observe. Collaborating with a broader range of people. Dealing with more demands, sometimes conflicting.

You also need to listen to your body more, including noticing your feelings. When you dial into your feelings, emotions, and mood plus your body’s other internal signals, such as physical aches and pains, you’ll be able to manage yourself and situations better.

As an example, let’s say you notice you’re feeling sluggish after multiple back-to-back meetings. Rather than push yourself to keep going, you know that if you take a break, you’ll recover some or all of your depleted energy. You decide what to do: take a walk, talk with colleagues, sit in a comfortable place listening to music, daydream, or whatever. Your break refreshes you, and even better, you may get an insight that helps you figure out something that was stumping  you earlier.

When you develop vertically, you get more comfortable in your own skin, including knowing how your body and brain perform at their optimum. You may learn new skills, but the emphasis is on engaging in new experiences, living and working in alignment with your values, collaborating, and asking good questions of yourself and others. These actions help you manage greater complexity because you’re using neuroplasticity to rewire your brain.

Second, neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt to new experiences, learning, and behavioral changes. As you take new actions, your brain forms new neural connections and rewires itself. This rewiring helps you become more agile and adaptable so you can navigate increasingly complex challenges.

Making these vertical development moves can be hard work – more difficult and time consuming than merely “embracing the future,” as Adam Grant’s quote might suggest. As I explain in my Forbes article, 3 actions to help  you develop vertically and better manage complexity, you can take intentional actions on your own or with help from others to get you ready for the future.

Meanwhile, remember that leadership today is not a static trait. Instead, it’s a dynamic, evolving role that requires you to see more dots and connect them. And to do this well, you can choose to develop vertically. Are you ready to do so?