Guest: Larry Coval | Founder, Arcane Leadership Concepts & Author of Misled Theme: Leadership as a Skill, Accountability, and Helping People Thrive In this Above Center® episode, Larry Coval challenges the assumption that strong leaders are born with the right personality. Drawing on nearly four decades of experience, including 21 years at Cox Business, where he rose to Division Vice President, Larry argues that leadership is a learnable skill built through observation, structure, accountability, and difficult decisions. His forthcoming book, Misled: Why Almost Everything We Learned About Leadership Is Wrong and How to Fix It, questions advice that prioritizes likability without giving managers practical tools. His message is direct: empathy matters, but it cannot replace the ability to set expectations, address underperformance, run effective meetings, and help people thrive. Key Takeaways from Larry’s Leadership Philosophy 🧭 Leadership Is a Skill, Not a Personality TraitEmpathy, vulnerability, and likability may help, but they do not teach leaders how to manage performance, build accountability, or guide a team through difficult situations. ⚖️ Evaluate Both Will and SkillWhen someone struggles, leaders should ask two questions: Do they have the will to succeed, and do they have the skills required for the role? The answers help determine whether the person needs coaching, clearer expectations, a different environment, or a different role. 🎯 A Leader’s Job Is to Enable SuccessLarry’s leadership standard is simple: his job is to make his people successful. Sometimes that means helping someone grow in the current role. Other times, it means recognizing that the person may thrive somewhere else. 📋 Define What a Good Day Looks LikeLeaders should define what a strong, average, and poor day look like in each role. Clear standards help employees understand expectations and allow leaders to address small issues before they become major problems. 🤝 Trust Requires Support and AccountabilityEmployees need to know their leader has their back and will offer help. They must also know that the leader will hold them accountable. Strong leadership balances freedom with structure and support with responsibility. 🔁 Failure Is Part of the ProcessLarry developed his approach by experimenting, learning from mistakes, and refusing to let failure end the process. Reflection, positive intent, and a willingness to take risks helped him discover what worked. 💬 Favorite Quote“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” For Larry, failure is part of learning. Leaders grow by testing new approaches, acknowledging what did not work, and continuing to improve. About Larry Coval Lawrence “Larry” Coval has lived leadership for nearly four decades. He started at the bottom, worked his way up, and spent years leading large organizations, managing significant revenue, and being accountable for hundreds of people. At 23, Larry was given a leadership role he knew he was not ready for. Rather than relying on theory, he learned through real outcomes, pressure, and consequences. Over time, he developed a demanding standard: his job was to make his people successful. If they won, he won. Today, as founder of Arcane Leadership Concepts and author of the forthcoming Misled, Larry brings an operator’s mindset to leadership development. His work replaces conventional advice with practical skills, clear accountability, and approaches designed for the real world. ABOVE CENTER® is brought to you by REVEL®, an Executive Search and Coaching firm that helps people and companies grow through great leadership. Our ABOVE CENTER® approach is about staying grounded, clear, and resilient when the stakes are high. We feature corporate leaders who share the mindsets, strategies, and philosophies that help them navigate pressure, lead effective teams, and build careers and lives with purpose, impact, and joy in the journey.
