Development Framework
Essential Experiences: the developmental blueprint that builds leadership readiness.
The Essential Experiences Blueprint describes and organises the specific experiences that build leadership capability - mapped across career themes, role levels, and experience types.
The problem
Development does not happen in the classroom.
Organisations invest heavily in training programmes. Most of that investment produces limited lasting change - because training alone cannot replicate the developmental impact of real experience.
The problem is not a lack of investment in development. It is a lack of intentionality about which experiences matter - and whether people are getting them.
- Succession plans assess competencies but not experience readiness
- Development conversations lack a common language beyond competency ratings
- Stretch assignments happen by chance, not by design
- High-potential leaders are promoted without the experience base to succeed
The 70/20/10 Model
of development happens through experience
The 70/20/10 model - supported by decades of research - shows that most meaningful development comes from on-the-job experience, not formal training. Yet most development plans are built around courses.
through coaching and social learning
Feedback, mentoring, and peer learning account for a significant share of development. The Blueprint creates the shared language that makes these conversations more structured and productive.
through formal training and courses
Formal learning has its place - but it cannot substitute for real experience. Organisations that over-invest in training at the expense of experience-based development consistently underperform on talent outcomes.
Source: Lombardo & Eichinger (1996); McCall, Lombardo & Morrison (1988)
The framework
A structured map of developmental experiences.
The Essential Experiences Blueprint describes and organises the specific experiences that build leadership capability - mapped across career themes, role levels, and experience types.
Career Theme
The broad category of career progression. Each theme represents a distinct developmental trajectory - a type of challenge or context that builds a specific set of capabilities when navigated well.
Key Experiences
The essential experiences specific to each career theme. These describe the core nature of the work - what the person is actually doing, leading, or navigating during that phase.
Example Activities
Practical, real-world instances of each key experience. These make the abstract concrete - giving managers and HR professionals a shared reference point for what the experience looks like in practice.
Development Outcomes
The primary capabilities an individual develops by navigating this experience. These connect the experience directly to the skills and behaviours it builds - making development intentional, not incidental.
Illustrative example - Theme: Change Manager
Career Theme
Change Manager
Key Experiences
Leading a significant change effort requiring cross-functional coordination and stakeholder management
Example Activities
Business restructuring, installing a major system, leading a post-merger integration, or managing a significant cost reduction programme
Development Outcomes
Change management, cross-functional coordination, stakeholder influence, resilience under pressure
The full Blueprint covers 13 career themes with key experiences, example activities, and development outcomes for each.
Types of experience
Three categories of developmental experience.
The Blueprint organises developmental experiences into three categories - each with a distinct developmental purpose and a different level of risk and visibility.
Challenging Assignments
High-stakes, high-visibility roles that require leading through ambiguity, managing cross-boundary complexity, or building something from nothing. These are the experiences that accelerate development fastest.
Scope and Scale Shifts
Transitions that dramatically increase the size, complexity, or geographic reach of a role. These experiences develop the strategic and operational range needed for senior leadership.
Collaborative and Observational Experiences
Structured opportunities to participate in, observe, or co-lead high-value processes. Particularly effective for early-career talent and high-potentials being prepared for larger roles.
Business value
Why organisations use it.
Intentional succession planning
Replace ad hoc stretch assignments with a structured approach. Define the experiences required for each critical role and track whether successors have them.
Accelerated leadership development
Identify the highest-impact experiences for each individual's development path and create deliberate opportunities to access them - rather than waiting for them to occur by chance.
Better development conversations
Give managers and HR a common language for discussing development. Move beyond vague competency gaps to specific, actionable experience goals.
Data-driven talent decisions
When integrated with TalentPrint, the Blueprint enables you to assess not just what a person can do today, but whether they have the experience base to succeed in a larger role.
Reduced succession risk
Organisations that rely solely on competency assessments for succession miss a critical dimension. The Blueprint adds experience readiness to the picture - reducing the risk of promoting people who are behaviourally capable but experientially unprepared.
A framework that scales
The Blueprint is designed as a master list. Organisations contextualise it for their industry, size, and strategic priorities - creating a version that reflects the experiences that actually matter in their business.
Part of the ecosystem
Three dimensions of talent readiness.
No single dimension is sufficient to assess whether someone is ready for a larger role. The Essential Experiences Blueprint works alongside the Skills Taxonomy and Talent Genome to give a complete picture.
How a person acts - 60 behavioural competencies across 18 clusters, assessed through TalentPrint.
What a person knows - 500 technical skills across 20 job families, mapped in the Skills Taxonomy.
What a person has done - the experiences that have shaped their capability and readiness for larger roles.
Common questions
What people ask.
Next step
Access the full Blueprint.
The full Essential Experiences Blueprint - including all 13 career themes, experience categories, and integration guidance - is available to Peopletree clients and on request.