The Versatile Leader

June 15, 2006
When it comes to strengths, can managers have too much of a good thing? Yes, according to leadership consultants Kaplan and Kaiser (partners with Kaplan DeVries, Inc.), who posit that -overdoing - one's strengths can lead to ineffectiveness. After suggesting that other management assessment scales do not measure such excesses, the authors describe their Leadership Versatility Index (LVIb"), a -360-degree tool - designed to identify whether a leader is forceful or enabling, too strategic or too operational. When leadership is skewed to either end of these scales, it becomes lopsided: overenabling leaders may be too quick to avoid conflict; those who focus exclusively on operations may develop tunnel vision. In three sections, the authors describe the importance of moderating strengths, discuss the leadership dualities described above, and suggest ways to -throttle back - or -rev up - strengths as needed. The book is engagingly written and provides case studies, charts, and highlights at the end of each chapter, but it feels more like an extended and sometimes redundant advertisement for their LVIb" (described more fully in the appendix) than a standalone manual for improvement. Recommended for larger public or business libraries only. -Sarah Statz Cords, Madison P.L., WI

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