Author: Lawrence R. Armstrong
Genre: Nonfiction – Business Leadership
Year Published: 2025
Nerdection Rating:
“Nerdection Must Read”
Layered Leadership by Lawrence R. Armstrong is a deep dive into the innovative strategies and developmental skills that are required for succeeding in today’s business world.
Overview of Layered Leadership
Layered Leadership: Drive Double-Digit Growth and Dominate Your Competition with Creative Strategies and Execution is written by Lawrence R. Armstrong, a successful architect and chairman of Ware Malcomb.
It focuses on the technological changes, complex organizational structures and the competition these bring to the global market.
Armstrong focuses on the importance of saving executive time for creative work and working on succession planning that helps with growth. He focuses on creating an inclusive environment where each individual can bring their full potential to the workplace.
The book explores the journey of young leaders who develop adaptive yet creative leadership skills and explains their ideas using real-life examples and personal experiences.
My take on Layered Leadership
The book Layered Leadership is a well-written guide for aspiring leaders from different industries. It explains how modern leadership should work, how to develop critical and creative thinking, how to build an ecosystem, and how to make everything adaptable for organizations.
The book focuses on the main concept of leadership. It also explores genres of finance, personal development, and business.
Larry efficiently uses illustrations and real-life applications to help understand his concepts. He does a remarkable job addressing all the challenges professionals may face and makes his pieces of advice actionable.
The writing style is clear. Larry uses an adaptative tone, adding his experience in architecture and design. He narrates his instructions in achievable stepping stones.
For instance, he brings down his concept of “whole brain leadership”, which merges analytical and creative thinking for success into small steps like “building a mentoring culture” and “taking time for creative work.”
The pace of Layered Leadership is well suited for the genre as readers are able to absorb the points easily.
Larry does a great job by adding his personal experiences to explain the concepts. He gives examples of his success at Ware Malcomb. His background as a successful leader adds depth to the book. The book also contains related artwork by the author which adds a visual element to it.
The book can resonate with the readers on a meaningful level. Larry’s perspective can bring clarity to the readers. It also highlighted the impact of having mentors and the significant impact they can bring to your work culture. He encourages leaders to understand the environment they’re in and what needs to be changed to bring success.
Some readers may find the book advanced. They will need to have some knowledge to understand certain concepts.
Overall Layered Leadership is a great read for all the emerging leaders and entrepreneurs who want to learn about the strategies that are required to succeed in today’s business environment and how to implement these strategies in real-life business scenarios.
Ratings and Content Warning:
It is a must-read for readers who are interested in leadership, strategic growth, and mentorship. The book is targeted towards professional development.
About The Author Of Layered Leadership
Lawrence R. Armstrong joined Ware Malcomb in 1984 and shortly thereafter was responsible for running the firm’s Los Angeles office. In 1988, he was promoted to Principal of the firm, and then became CEO in 1992. In addition to expanding Ware Malcomb from a Southern California firm to a national and international firm with 28 offices in key markets across North America, Lawrence’s tenure as CEO is hallmarked by an unprecedented 40x revenue growth. In 2020, Lawrence transitioned to the role of Chairman and now leads the Board of Directors for Ware Malcomb.
Lawrence is an accomplished architect and strong business leader. He is well known for his strategic, visionary approach to Ware Malcomb’s management and growth, as well as his commitment to fiscal discipline to ensure the overall health of the firm. His strong design ability and focus on creativity and innovation greatly influenced all aspects of the organization. His philosophy of embracing change and rewarding achievement and innovation has resulted in a highly successful, dynamic firm. In 2008, Lawrence was selected as an award winner for the Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, Orange County/Desert Cities Region and was also a national finalist. In 2018, 2019 and 2022 he was selected to the prestigious OC 500, a list of the most influential leaders in the community by the Orange County Business Journal. Lawrence was also nominated as an Innovator of the Year in the Orange County Business Journal’s program recognizing OC innovators creating game-changing ideas and business models.
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