Fear Your Strengths

Forceful and Enabling Leadership

Consider Carla Middleton. Born into difficult circumstances, she overcame them with a vengeance to become the first woman president at a prestigious liberal arts college. Throughout her career, her nagging sense of being “one-down” fueled her rapid ascent but also left an indelible imprint on her leadership style. This was a forceful leader who fed off her own intellect and energy and fairly reveled in her efficacy, so much so that she was quite poor at tapping into and encouraging the intellect and energy of other people.

Within a few months of taking her post, Carla had successfully launched an ambitious three-year capital campaign and, with the resulting funds, presided over the remaking of the school’s physical ...