Transcripts

Robert Kaplan:
Take a leader who's too forceful - whether it's a manager in a company or a little league coach or even a parent - if that leader feels that being tough is what works for him then that leader's at risk of doing it too much.

Bob Kaplan, author of the book The Versatile Leader…

That works the other way too - let's take a leader who's too nice and tends to overuse that style. I know a woman who was having discipline problems with one of her kids and being nice just didn't work with that kid. And I said, "Well, what if you adjust and get a little tougher?" And she said, " I don't want to stop being me."

Which illustrates how many leaders identify with a single leadership style but a versatile leader adapts to the situation.

And you know it's not just turning down the dial on forceful, it's also turning up the dial on the opposite - the compliment, which is enabling - which means empowering your people, giving them support, being sensitive to their needs. Most leaders that we see in business err on the side of being too forceful and not enabling enough - and to be a good leader you have to strike that balance.

One manager Bob worked with was described by the people under him as always yelling and berating people - he did it all the time because that's what he felt was his effective style.

And after we worked with him he understood better the benefits of balance. And he said to me, " You know I don't have to give up my fastball, I just don't have to throw it all the time." That's what I'm talking about.

At somethingyoushouldknow.net I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.