The New Portrait Of Leadership: Lori Van Dusen Of LVW Advisors On Which Legacy Ideas About Leadership Need To Be Discarded, And Which New Approaches To Leadership Should Be Embraced
An Interview with Karen Mangia
Empathy: It’s so important to be able to recognize the feelings of others when making professional decisions. Again — you must remember that everyone sees the world differently. Meet them where they are at, not where you want them to be.
We are living in the Renaissance of Work. Just like great artists know that an empty canvas can become anything, great leaders know that an entire organization — and the people inside it — can become anything, too. Master Artists and Mastering the Art of Leadership draw from the same source: creation. In this series, we’ll meet masters who are creating the future of work and painting a portrait of lasting leadership. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Lori Van Dusen.
Lori Van Dusen, CIMA, is the Founder and CEO of LVW Advisors, a leading investment advisory firm serving wealthy families, individuals, and nonprofits nationwide. With over 25 years of experience, she prioritizes client-focused strategies, providing unbiased, integrated solutions. Lori is actively involved in philanthropy, serving on multiple boards focused on education, health, and the arts. Her impressive career achievements include being ranked in Forbes’ and Barron’s prestigious lists. A devoted Rochester community member, Lori engages in various community organizations and enjoys long-distance running, yoga, and hosting Italian meals for family and friends.
Thank you for joining us. Our readers would enjoy discovering something interesting about you. What are you in the middle of right now that you’re excited about personally or professionally?
I’ve just published my first book, Running with Grace: A Wall Street Insider’s Path to True Leadership, a Purposeful Life, and Joy in the Face of Adversity and I am excited about sharing the lessons I’ve learned throughout my career and life.
We all get by with a little help from our friends. Who is the leader that has influenced you the most, and how?
I was very fortunate to grow up in my grandparents’ home. My parents divorced when my twin brother and I were young, and we lived in Rochester with my Italian grandparents. My immigrant grandfather only had an eighth-grade education but was one of the wisest men I’ve known. He taught me how to work hard (harder than anyone around me) to achieve my goals. He ran a small business and frequently took us to work with him where we witnessed his work ethic first-hand. He died unexpectedly and at his funeral hundreds of people showed up to offer their condolences to the family. Speaking with the other mourners I learned that he had been helping people in the community for years. I realized later that he was practicing the servant leadership model — focusing primarily on the growth and well-being of others around you — that I credit with my success on Wall Street. While my colleagues were focused on the sale, I was focusing on how I could help my clients achieve their financial goals. While it’s very common practice now, offering true financial planning was practically non-existent when I was starting out in the late eighties.
Sometimes our biggest mistakes lead to our biggest discoveries. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made as a leader, and what did you discover as a result?
I cover more than a few of them in the book unfortunately, LOL, however, the biggest mistake I ever made was not treating my own business as I would treat a client’s. When I made the huge decision to leave my big Wall Street firm (and consequently was immersed in a massive lawsuit — don’t miss that chapter!) I didn’t do the extensive diligence on my future partners that I had employed on behalf of my clients for the entirety of my career. I realized the gravity of my mistake and spent a great deal of time and an extraordinary amount of money unwinding the partnership — to finally open my own completely independent financial advisory.
How has your definition of leadership changed or evolved over time? What does it mean to be a leader now?
I think I have always been a change maker and led by inspiring and motivating. But I have also learned through experience in working with many organizations the value of servant leadership. I always wanted to make things better no doubt, but once you actually find the things that fuel you and that you are passionate about, you will do anything to lead and protect the value of an organization or the people involved. In many cases, it requires short-term sacrifice for the long-term gain. My timelines for things have certainly shifted as well. As I focus on how to protect and grow the things that are important to me, I’ve realized that those around me (whether in my firm or the philanthropic work) model that behavior as well and begin to prioritize the good of the many over the good of the few or self. I’ve recognized that living a more purpose-driven life has not only given me peace and satisfaction, but it also inspires others to not just focus on achieving the goal, but equally focused on how you get there.
Success is as often as much about what we stop as what we start. What is one legacy leadership behavior you stopped because you discovered it was no longer valuable or relevant?
I learned early on that one cannot assume what motivates you is what motivates others. I have had to learn and accept or try to figure out what levers I can press to unlock passion in a partner or employee in business, or a philanthropic endeavor, instead of trying to use my motivators on to them. I have also learned that, within reason, you must let others make mistakes and learn from them. Otherwise, you are a rescuer or an enabler, neither of which help your team.
What is one lasting leadership behavior you started or are cultivating because you believe it is valuable or relevant?
Historically, I was a client-first leader. If our clients are successful, then we’re successful was the mantra. I realized that it is equally, if not perhaps more important to prioritize the workforce culture in the same way. Assessing our employee satisfaction and taking the feedback to heart — looking for patterns or problems and fixing them is critical. The true measure of leadership success is how engaged, satisfied, and productive your workforce is.
What advice would you offer to other leaders who are stuck in past playbooks and patterns and may be having a hard time letting go of what made them successful in the past?
We all get stuck. Get a Good coach. There are professionals who are simply more skilled at helping leaders that are stuck than one is at trying to change by yourself. Pamela Conoyer has helped our organization transform leaders of all ages and experience.
Many of our readers can relate to the challenge of leading people for the first time. What advice would you offer to new and emerging leaders?
If you don’t grow employee’s knowledge, skills and abilities, you only get what they gave past employers. The components of servant leadership should be the core skills that every successful leader practices and begin early training new leaders in those skills. Assign a mentor, invest in a coach, and make a supportive feedback loop so you can understand what they are struggling with and what their passions are.
Based on your experience or research, what are the top five traits effective leaders exemplify now?
- Courage: Hard choices come with leadership. So many times, during my career, I had to have the courage to go against the prevailing methods. I turned my outsider status (a woman in finance without a business degree) into my secret weapon for success — but it wasn’t easy. I had to have courage to live my values.
- Empathy: It’s so important to be able to recognize the feelings of others when making professional decisions. Again — you must remember that everyone sees the world differently. Meet them where they are at, not where you want them to be.
- Ability to Inspire: It began with my grandfather — I saw his ability to inspire others with both his words and actions. I knew if I could do the same for my team and my clients, then we would be successful.
- Strong communication skills: Leaders need to be able to communicate with their teams so they can inspire others to greatness. It’s not enough to model good behavior, you need to communicate it as well.
- Integrity: Goes hand in hand with courage.
American Basketball Coach John Wooden said, “Make each day your masterpiece.” How do you embody that quote?
Every morning I start with gratitude which sounds a bit trite, but I do not open an email, or answer a call or start a business project or look at the markets before I practice gratitude. I start by journaling what I am grateful for and what impact I will have in the current day. This is especially important because many days involve difficult meetings, planned or unplanned. I ask for guidance, strength and grace to navigate whatever the day will bring.
What is the legacy you aspire to leave as a leader?
The legacy I would aspire to leave is that I had the courage to do things for the greater good and to make this place we inhabit a better one. I wrote the book to share my stories (many of which were very painful and personal) to inspire others to overcome whatever obstacles are in their way.
How can our readers connect with you to continue the conversation?
Lori Van Dusen
CEO/CIO
LVW Advisors
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to experience a leadership master at work. We wish you continued success and good health!
About The Interviewer: Karen Mangia is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world, sharing her thought leadership with over 10,000 organizations during the course of her career. As Vice President of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce, she helps individuals and organizations define, design and deliver the future. Discover her proven strategies to access your own success in her fourth book Success from Anywhere and by connecting with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
