Develops
Versatile
Leaders

Read and respond to changing conditions

In a disruptive operating environment, rigid adherence to a certain course can be a quick path to disaster. The best leaders and organizations can adjust on the fly and adapt to shifting priorities, a change in plan, and emerging opportunities.

This requires a full range of behaviors and skills. The LVI is designed to increase the versatility of individuals – as well as organizations.

A Clear Picture Of Where The Leader Stands

A “Field General”
The forceful operator who can drive for results – and needs to add charting the course and bringing people along

A “Versatile Leader”
The rare well-rounded type who has nearly mastered the opposing forces of leadership

"One of the Troops"
The enabling operator who gets down to work with their people – and needs to add raising the bar and looking ahead

Create more effective leaders, more engaged employees, and more productive organizations

Versatile leaders create greater employee engagement, commitment, and retention. They build more confident, more cohesive teams, with higher morale.

Versatile leaders also have teams and business units that produce a higher quantity, quality, and overall output.

And organizations that develop versatile leaders are more responsive to change, achieve better results, and remain more relevant over the long term.

Dive into the research

The approach to leadership development behind the LVI has been road tested and refined in over 40 years of intensive, one-on-one, deep-dive practice helping thousands of executives become more versatile leaders. This work began at the Center for Creative Leadership in the 1980s, and extended through the work of the boutique firm, Kaplan DeVries Inc., where the LVI was created.

The Versatile Leader: Make the Most of Your Strengths—Without Overdoing It

San Francisco: Pfeiffer (2006)

Fear Your Strengths: What You Are Best at May be Your Biggest Problem

San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Press (2013)

Stop overdoing your strengths

Harvard Business Review (2009)

Towards a positive psychology for leaders

Chapter in Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology and Work (2010)

The deeper work of executive development

Academy of Management Learning and Education (2006)

Developing Versatile Leadership

Sloan Management Review (2003)