🔒How leadership styles shape a business

“How Builder Personality Shapes Your Business, Your Team, and Your Ability to Win” by Chris Keunne and John Danner (Harvard Business Review Press, $30).

An entrepreneur's leadership style affects the way the business operates. The authors' research found four distinct personalities that approach business-building (i.e. finding solutions, team-building, dealing with customers and stakeholders, achieving scale) from different perspectives. Here are some of the pros and cons of each:

1. “Drivers” see business ownership as personal validation. They have an innate ability to “see what's missing” and can convert ideas into products. But, they often fall so in love with their creation that they won't listen to others.

Their hands-on approach means they're prone to micromanagement. “Letting go” often presents a problem because those they initially hired liked leaving the decision-making to the driver.

2. “Explorers” ask questions about problems in need of a solution. They have “twin drives of curiosity and confidence to seek and develop a better approach.” When they understand how a system works, they want to improve it.

They hire like-minded system-thinkers, which effectively creates “delegation through collaboration.” Explorers often look at employees as part of the firm's operating system, rather than individuals, which can create morale problems. Low morale eats away at collaboration.

3. “Crusaders” see the unmet need of others and create a mission-based company. They attract passionate employees and customers. Lacking a “why to how” infrastructure to measure operational efficiency and assess financial decisions, Crusaders may be doing the right thing the wrong way because they make decisions based solely on the mission.

They are willing delegators, but they're averse to conflict so underperformance isn't dealt with quickly.

4. “Captains relish the building process itself almost as much as the businesses they build.” It's not so much about growth as it is about being great and unique. When it comes to managing, they are “orchestra conductors comfortable with yielding the spotlight as circumstances dictate.”

Captains must set limits on delegation lest they become detached from critical decisions. They must also realize that consensus building postpones decisions.

The message: If you learn to lead, you'll learn to build.

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“Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life” by Mark Goulston (AMACOM, $24.95).

You've met the bully, the manipulator, the victim, the know-it-all, the backstabber, the whiner, the gossiper, etc. Dealing with these personalities can drive you crazy — unless you employ Goulston's methods for dealing with them. Here are a few:

1. “Keep your own crazy at bay when you're under attack.” Becoming defensive only adds fuel to their fire. They win; you lose. Pausing before you respond calms your emotions and provides a moment to frame a response. By maintaining your poise, you disarm the crazy — yours and theirs.

2. “The belly roll.” Don't attempt to take charge of the conversation. Instead, rollover and let the irrational person lead the conversation. Sounds counterintuitive; it's not. “Increasing the person's power lessens his need to act out.” If the person sees you as non-threatening, the attack stops and real conversation starts.

3. “Time travel.” You can't change their past or yours. The future beckons. Simply asking “What do you want me to do or not do?” starts a conversation. As it progresses, weave your expectation for her/him into it.

4. The “butter up” works well with know-it-alls. Identify the areas where the person excels and play to them. Guide the conversation to how the person could grow those skills. By seeing you as a mentor, the person may be open to taking your advice.

The Bottom Line: Learn to manage the crazies in your life, or they'll manage you.

Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.