Effective leaders know their style

By Bill Wolfe
Louisville Courier-Journal

For business leaders, style can't replace substance. But the substance of effective management, some experts say, can depend on an executive's style.

Tim Landgrave, for example, says his leadership style is best suited for startup ventures, such as the two he helped develop and sell, Vobix and KiZAN Technologies. As a staff tops 50 people or so, he said, the creative but chaotic environment of a new business needs to give way to the steady hand of a manager who can bring in order — and profit.

Those are people "who want to have things done in a particular way, who like to have structure around them, who like to have people around them who can work within a structure," said Landgrave, now chief executive of software-development company Indigo Olive, based near Louisville, Ky. "I don't think I am one of those. I've never been able to make that transition."

When it comes to leadership, business experts say, the trick is to know your style and its strengths and limitations, and to recognize when you might need to change your own style — or bring in someone else to help where you may fall short.

Brad DeVries, president and chief executive of Louisville's Semonin Realtors, sees himself as a leader who works to bring out the best in a staff of about 110 salaried employees and 800 independent real-estate agents.

"I am not a great idea guy," said the former Marine captain. "But once I see a good idea, I think I am a good shepherd or a good cheerleader."

Some lead by force of personality, some by intimidation — and some leave the corporate or business structure to lead itself.

Kevin Cashman, founder and chief executive of LeaderSource, a Minneapolis company that offers coaching in leadership skills, cites "three domains of leadership" that he calls "I," "We" and "It."

• The "I" leader, frequently a charismatic, personality-driven manager, "focuses on personal power."
• The "We" leader "is all about relational power: creating teams, creating synergy, creating a whole that's greater than the sum of the parts."
• The "It" leader, the quintessential organization person, concentrates on "getting things done, producing results, creating things of value" without worrying too much about how he or she gets there.

But Bruce Kemelgor, a professor of management at the University of Louisville, doesn't think that leaders can be pegged to specific leadership styles.

Style is "not a good term to use any longer. We're really talking about approaches to leadership. It's dynamic. It can evolve, and it needs to."

The strong-personality "I" leader might be great for a small, new company. "But at some point developmentally, they have to make a shift into 'I-We' management," Cashman said. "If they don't balance that, then they try to lead through more and more control and more and more dominance. It becomes very difficult for themselves and other people."

"We" leaders inspire harmony and rank high in employee polls. "People really like that leader. They really get along with them," Cashman said. But lean too far in that direction, and "the leader doesn't really press people for performance enough. He cares too much about how everybody is feeling."

Companies often love the results-oriented "It" leader, he said, but "problems creep up on them." Too often they "can't see the long-term implications" of daily business decisions. Evolution and flexibility of approaches are key, Kemelgor said.

"People mistakenly think, 'Well, that's me, that fits my personality, that's who I am, and that shows how I'm going to lead.' "

Instead, he said, a leader's approach must vary situation by situation. "Some people are simply not cut out to do that and they have to hire professional management to come in."