Does Your Organization Work Well Across Silos?

Discover your Intergroup Leadership Maturity — and learn how to lead across boundaries with clarity, trust, and collaboration.

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Collaboration Improves When Leaders Shape How Groups Relate

Intergroup leadership grows when people can communicate across boundaries with shared identity. When leaders create shared language and make it safe for groups to engage, silos soften, trust increases, and collaboration becomes routine.

Why Intergroup Leadership Matters

Most leadership models focus on individuals or teams, not the space between them where friction and misalignment take root. When groups talk past each other or compete for influence, progress slows and trust erodes. The Intergroup Leadership Maturity Model shows how leaders reduce that friction by creating safer communication, shared language, and real connection across groups. It gives leaders a clear view of how intergroup capability develops and the steps that turn siloed efforts into coordinated, trust-based collaboration.

Introducing the Intergroup Leadership Maturity Model

Leadership matures in the space between groups, not within a single team. The Intergroup Leadership Maturity Model defines seven levels, from Isolated to Harmonized, giving leaders a clear view of how communication and collaboration evolve as friction decreases and trust grows.

Built on two dimensions — Rhetoric and Boundary-Spanning — the model explains how leaders shape the permeability between groups and the clarity of shared language. It turns complex group dynamics into a practical roadmap, showing how increased permeability builds alignment, shared purpose, and stronger organizational cohesion.

Grounded in Proven Research

The Intergroup Leadership Maturity Model is built on the doctoral research of Dr. Stanton Brooks, published as Effective Intergroup Leadership Skills in Large U.S. Organizations (Capella University, 2017). His study explored how senior leaders in large organizations describe the skills that enable collaboration across boundaries — the rhetoric that inspires alignment, and the boundary-spanning needed for intergroup permeability.

Rooted in social identity theory and validated through extensive phenomenological research, the model translates those findings into a practical framework for modern leaders. It bridges academic rigor with real-world application, showing how leaders’ words and actions shape the flow of trust, communication, and cooperation across teams. This is not abstract theory — it’s research proven in practice, distilled into a model any leader can use to build more connected, collaborative organizations.

Take the Free Intergroup Leadership Quiz

See how well your organization works across silos in just a few minutes. Answer ten quick questions to identify your level on the Intergroup Leadership Maturity Model and get a clear snapshot of your strengths and the areas that need attention. You’ll receive instant, plain-language feedback on communication patterns and boundary permeability — the core drivers of intergroup maturity.

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Get the Free Intergroup Leadership Guide

Turn your score into a roadmap. This free guide expands on your quiz results with a clear overview of the seven maturity levels, practical steps for strengthening cross-group trust, and methods for preventing regression under stress or change. It’s a simple, actionable way to build the rhetoric and boundary-spanning skills that keep organizations connected and collaborative.

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Leadership Beyond the Individual

True leadership isn’t measured by how well we perform alone, but by how well we help others connect. The Intergroup Leadership Maturity Model reminds us that the real test of leadership lives in the space between — in how we bridge differences, sponsor collaboration, and make trust visible through action. As leaders grow, so does the organization around them. And when maturity becomes shared — not siloed — every group starts pulling in the same direction.

Develop Intergroup Leadership Across Your Organization

When leaders work across silos, organizations move with more clarity, alignment, and trust. Our Intergroup Leadership Consulting Programs use the maturity model as a practical framework for building those capabilities — turning insight into everyday practice. Through targeted workshops, executive coaching, and maturity-mapping engagements, we help leadership teams:

Strengthen communication between departments, functions, and regions
Increase boundary permeability across teams and business units
Identify and develop emerging intergroup leaders
Build systems that scale collaboration and trust

Whether you’re focusing on culture renewal, transformation readiness, or leadership alignment, we help you operationalize intergroup maturity so coordinated collaboration becomes the norm — not the exception.

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