Vertical Growth: How Self-Awareness Transforms Leaders and Organisations
By Michael Bunting and Carl Lemieux
“This is essential reading for any leader who wants to get the very best out of themselves, their teams and their organisation.”
Michael Wright
Executive Chairman and CEO, Thiess
Master Self-Awareness to Create Sustainable Change
Many leaders already know what good leadership looks like. The challenge is not knowing what to do—it’s doing it consistently, especially when pressure is high.
Vertical Growth addresses the gap between intention and behaviour. It explores why capable, values-driven leaders still become defensive, avoid difficult conversations, or default to habits that quietly undermine trust, accountability, and learning—even when they know better.
From bestselling author Michael Bunting, the book draws on case studies from top global leaders to make a clear and practical distinction:
- Horizontal development builds skills, knowledge, and techniques.
- Vertical growth develops the leader’s inner capacity to notice what is happening in themselves and to choose responses aligned with their values rather than their fears.
This inner capacity is what determines whether skills are applied well, poorly, or not at all.
Vertical Growth is not about adding more tools. It is about strengthening the awareness and self-regulation required to use any tool well, and to lead with integrity when it matters most.
In this book, you’ll explore:
- Why leadership breakdowns are rarely caused by a lack of skill, but by a lack of self-awareness under pressure.
- The difference between horizontal development and vertical growth—and why both matter.
- How unconscious fears and assumptions quietly drive defensiveness, avoidance, and control.
- The Mindful Leader Matrix: a practical framework for linking values to behaviour.
- How to reduce image management and build trust, accountability, and psychological safety.
- What it takes to sustain behaviour change in leaders, teams, and organisations.
“No matter how senior you are, after reading this book, you will not live or lead the same way again.”
Andre Viljoen
CEO, Fiji Airways
Endorsements for Vertical Growth by Michael Bunting
Peter Horgan CEO, Omnicon MediaGroup, ANZ "Michael Bunting’s approach makes a profound difference. I have personally seen his work transform people for the better. This new book delivers an elegant, compelling process for real growth in leaders."
Elaine Lim Asean Talent Development Leader, EY “One of the hardest challenges we face as leaders is getting people to change. What this book reveals is that the easiest and best way to get others to change is to change ourselves. This book is for any leader ready for that life changing commitment.”
Jerh Collins Chief Culture Officer, Novartis “This book clearly shows how self-awareness enables leaders to grow and make an even greater impact for and with their people. A wonderful read, inspiring, practical and insightful.
Radoslava (Radi) Anguelova Head of Corporate Human Resources, Swarovski “Every leader should read this book. It will help you understand why people struggle to change and what you can do to enable yourself and others to reach their full potential. An enjoyable, educative read—I highly recommend it.”
Jason Smith SVP & President, International, Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie company “This book brilliantly reveals the secret inner world that really drives leaders. It helps us to choose wisdom over fear, values over self-centredness and awareness over numbness to become the best leader we can be.”
Commodore Eric Young CSC, RAN, Director General Navy People “This book helps us understand why we so rarely find leaders who truly walk their talk and why those who do are exceptional. It reveals the inner world that drives our actions and decisions, and lays out a clear map to eliminate the gap between what we think, what we say and what we do. This is the book to read if you want to really understand the why, what and how of self-awareness and team psychological safety.”
Paul Hutton Vice President, APAC, Hilton “Vertical Growth lays out a clear process for helping leaders really grow as human beings. It is a must-read for any leader interested in making the world a better place, and who understands that self-awareness is now even more critical in our fragile workplaces.”
Aimee Buchanan CEO, GroupM Australia & New Zealand “Michael Bunting’s work is life-changing. This book is his best work yet. It codifies a clear process for genuine transformation in leaders and cultures and takes us far beyond where we thought we could go.”
About the Authors
Michael Bunting is the best-selling author of The Mindful Leader and founder of TripleGoal leadership development company.
He has partnered with a wide array of global organisations to help them transform their culture, and trained and coached thousands of leaders over the course of his career. He also co-authored A Practical Guide to Mindful Meditation with Patrick Kearney and Extraordinary Leadership in Australia & New Zealand with Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, the world’s premier researchers and authors in the field of leadership.
Michael has kept a disciplined personal mindfulness practice since 1993 and has taught mindful leadership to businesses and government since 2000. He holds two business degrees and a postgraduate diploma in mindfulness-based psychotherapy.
Michael lives with his family in Sydney, Australia.
Carl Lemieux is the founder of the leadership and well-being consultancy, Mindsmatter. Over his 35-year career, Carl has supported the design of corporate strategy and complex transformation initiatives, as well as coached and developed thousands of leaders and professionals. He is committed to developing organisations that are aware of their impact on their environment and individuals, and to helping people improve their presence, clarity of mind, creativity, resilience, and the quality of their decisions.
Carl is a faculty member at the McGill Executive Institute in Montreal, a certified psychologist and psychotherapist, a qualified mindfulness teacher (MBSR), and holds an Executive MBA.
He lives in Montreal, Canada with his children and grandchildren.