“Larry’s extensive experience in guiding high-performing teams shines through in this book, offering actionable insights and strategies that blend visionary thinking with practical application.”
Lew Horne
President, Advisory Services
CBRE GLA-OC-IE
Layered Leadership is a comprehensive guide to mastering the art of leadership. Drawing from Lawrence Armstrong’s leadership experience at Ware Malcomb, this book offers practical advice, creative inspiration, and strategic insights.
1. How to Use This Book
2. Self-Awareness and the Art of Leadership
3. Developing Others and the Pivot to Leadership
4. Layering Personal and Financial Health
5. Strategy by Design: The Planning Layer
6. Master Strategy Class: Achieve Daring Long-Range Goals
7. Teams, Not Rivals, Building a World-Class Executive Culture
8. The Visible Light Spectrum
9. Making Innovation Work, How to Embed Creativity Layer by Layer
10. Embracing Your Hedgehog, How to Master the Disciplines of Growth
11. One Team, Many Markets, Layering Strategies for Sustainable Expansion
12. Succession, Posterity, Prosperity, The Final Layers
Layered Leadership by Lawrence Armstrong is a master class in . . . growth. Growing annual revenues? Yes. Growing one’s skill set from managing a paper route to owning and leading a company with $100 million a year in revenues and offices across the world? Yes. Growing one’s ability to manage, and more importantly, lead people? Yes . . . On each and every page of his valuable book Armstrong layers authenticity on top of humility, ability and success to build an imminently useful how-to manual for work and life.
Todd Diacon,
President, Kent State University
Lawrence Armstrong’s Layered Leadership captures the key to building successful organizations by developing well-rounded leaders. I’ve personally watched and admired Larry’s impressive journey from our first project in 1986 to now. This book shares valuable strategies for encouraging creativity and driving steady growth, no matter the economic climate. This book proves the power of strategic mentorship and visionary leadership. Larry’s dual passions for business and art shine through, offering a fresh perspective on leadership that’s both practical and inspirational.
Ted Antenucci,
President & CEO, Catellus Development Corporation
Larry Armstrong’s Layered Leadership is a must-read for anyone striving to build a successful business and most importantly, a successful life. His insight into how you bring your whole self into any endeavor is inspiring… In Layered Leadership, we all now have the opportunity to learn how to infuse creativity, discipline, humanity, and passion into everything we do…including addressing complex societal issues such as homelessness. Thank you, Larry!
Susan B. Parks,
President & CEO, OC United Way
Lawrence Armstrong’s Layered Leadership dives into how investing in people can lead to organizational greatness. Through Ware Malcomb’s rise to industry leadership, Larry emphasizes the importance of developing well-rounded leaders and fostering a culture of innovation and mentorship. This book is a must-have for leaders focused on sustainable growth and building a lasting legacy of excellence. Larry’s experience as an artist enriches his approach to leadership, blending creativity with strategic foresight.
Dick Gochnauer,
CEO Essendant, Retired
Layered Leadership by Lawrence Armstrong is a transformative guide for modern leaders seeking to inspire and drive real change. Larry’s extensive experience in guiding high-performing teams shines through in this book, offering actionable insights and strategies that blend visionary thinking with practical application. This book is essential for executives and managers aiming to build resilient, innovative teams and achieve sustained success. Larry’s dual expertise in business and art adds a unique, creative dimension to his pragmatic strategies, making this a must-read for anyone seeking to elevate their leadership game.
Lew Horne
President, Advisory Services CBRE GLA-OC-IE
I thoroughly enjoyed Lawrence Armstrong’s new book, Layered Leadership, a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of art, architecture and business. It is not just about leadership, but about building and sustaining a successful business. I particularly enjoyed his references to Good to Great, my favorite management book. That said, let’s appreciate that this was not written by some consultant or business pundit, but by someone with personal insights who has “walked the talk”! Lastly, Lawrence’s writing style, and his own artwork included with each chapter, make this an enjoyable page-turner.
Steve Swerdlow,
Principal, Swerdlow Advisory & Former Group President, CBRE
In Layered Leadership, Lawrence Armstrong merges architecture’s precision with art’s creativity, offering a holistic approach that is both innovative and practical. This book is designed to inspire leaders to think creatively, act decisively, and lead effectively in today’s evolving world.
Order NowLayered 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.
Layered Leadership is for anyone who wants to think differently about leading a team, building a business, or developing themselves.
Drawing inspiration from a surprising array of sources, he weaves a unique holistic perspective on how to achieve personal and business success.
Larry Armstrong joined me on Accelerate OC at a time that his industry, commercial architecture and building, is undergoing the greatest disruption and change of his multi-decade career.
Lawrence shares how using leadership development has activated growth in their company.
Tyler Mounce and Todd Vande Hei sits down with Lawrence Armstrong and learn how he gives every one of his employees an opportunity to grow within the company.
We learn about Lawrence’s journey from architect to CEO, how he transformed Ware Malcomb into a leading international design firm, and why he developed the Layered Leadership framework. Inspired by architectural design, he explains how leadership, like architecture, involves synthesizing different layers—Light, Sound, Emotion, and Thought—to build strong, visionary organizations. He shares how leaders can apply these 4 Layers of Leadership to inspire teams, create strategic clarity, and drive sustainable growth. He also introduces the Visible Light Spectrum metaphor for business diversification, discusses the importance of fostering a culture of innovation, and offers insights on making tough leadership decisions.
Artist. Architect. Chairman. Philanthropist. Author. Lawrence Armstrong, chairman of leading international design firm Ware Malcomb, joined the firm nearly 40 years ago and served as CEO from 1992 to 2020. In addition to expanding the company from a Southern California firm to a national and international firm with 28 offices across North America, his tenure as an unprecedented 40x revenue growth hallmarks CEO. He talks candidly about the importance of succession planning, navigating economic downturns over the years, and how creative leadership can drive double-digit growth. Recorded on Feb. 19, 2025.
LifeBlood: We talked about whole brain thinking, what qualities make for a world-class architect, the throughlines between art and engineering and how to design a beautiful building, how to foster collaboration and a team environment in a field often thought of as being comprised by individual contributors, and how to put whole brain thinking to work in your life, with Lawrence Armstrong, Chairman of Ware Malcomb and author.
Listen to learn why DaVinci was one of the greatest whole-brain thinkers ever!
Lawrence Armstrong is the chairman of Ware Malcomb, a leading design firm that he helped grow from 3 offices to over 46 offices globally. He started at the company in 1984 and eventually purchased it from the founders in 1992. As an architect and artist, Lawrence has leveraged both his creative and strategic skills to drive the firm’s success.
Balancing Creativity and Business @ 3:28
Lawrence believes it’s important for architects and designers to develop both their creative and business skills. He advocates for “whole brain” thinking, drawing inspiration from Renaissance figures like Leonardo da Vinci who excelled in diverse domains. Lawrence’s own background as an internationally exhibited artist has complemented his work as a business leader.
Scaling and Integrating a Geographically Distributed Firm @ 7:00
Under Lawrence’s leadership, Ware Malcomb expanded from 3 offices to over 46 offices across the US, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining a “one team” culture and consistent service delivery across the distributed offices, leveraging centralized resources and collaborative processes.
Developing Future Leaders @ 9:35
Recognizing the need for strong leadership as the company scaled, Lawrence focused on building a leadership development program to identify, train, and mentor the next generation of leaders at Ware Malcomb. This included executive coaching, mentorship, and creating opportunities for emerging leaders to take on greater responsibility.
Philanthropy and Community Engagement @ 43:34
In addition to his work at Ware Malcomb, Lawrence has been actively involved in addressing homelessness in his local community of Orange County, California. He helped launch a program called “United to End Homelessness” that has housed over 1,100 people through innovative approaches like landlord incentives.
Reflections on the Creative Process @ 48:55
As Lawrence transitions from CEO to Chairman, he is spending more time pursuing his passion for art and creativity. He discusses the iterative, collaborative process of writing his new book “Layered Leadership” and is open to the possibility of future writing projects, though he is focused on the current book launch for now.
Lawrence R. Armstrong embodies the Renaissance approach to life. He is an accomplished artist, architect, philanthropist, author, and Chairman of Ware Malcomb, an international design firm. With a career over three decades, Lawrence has been at the forefront of innovative leadership. His tenure as CEO of Ware Malcomb is hallmarked by an unprecedented 40x revenue growth, guiding Ware Malcomb to international prominence. Lawrence’s strategic, visionary approach to design and business has made him a sought-after speaker and consultant in business.
Drive Double-Digit Growth and Dominate
Your Competition with Creative Strategies and Execution