Defining an Eclectic Style

Eclectic is a word I often utilize to describe my personal style and often relate to my

Eclectic is a word I often utilize to describe my personal style and often relate to my leadership technique. By definition, it is deriving ideas, styles, or tastes from a broad and diverse range of sources.

For a less technical definition and a more practical example, visualize the Parker Hotel in Palm Springs. 

An absolute masterpiece of brightly colored, multi-textured interior. The lobby is filled with a sampling of midcentury modern, contemporary, and velvet covered chairs. A large sign illuminates over the fireplace spelling out Drugs.

There's a sea foam green marble bar tucked off to one side, detailed from floor to ceiling. The entire space is hidden behind large electric blue wooden doors and guarded by large gold palm trees. The Parker Hotel is a vision that captured a little piece of my soul that will now forever live in Palm Springs.

This likely was not my first encounter with an eclectic designed space. But the first moment I had a clear understanding of the style and how it resonated with my own personal taste.

When defining eclectic, a strong case could be made for associating it with chaos. We may think of items or ideas that naturally wouldn’t go together. Or maybe combinations of strategies or genres that break the stereotypical and societal norms. 

I initially identified with this concept after my failed attempt at decorating my first home. The daunting task of picking one style. I was trying to establish something elaborate, a notion that would define me. I wanted people to come into my home and be engulfed in my vision, feeling as I had when I walked into the Parker Hotel. 

I struggled to identify the vision. Did I want to be edgy and modern? Embodying a clean but bold space with sharp edges and clean lines. Did I want to look like I lived in a French cottage? Ruffled curtains and distressed white hutches full of table linens. A symbol directly from an edition of French Country magazine.  

Did I want to embody the beach? A very easy style to execute on in the middle of Sarasota. Or maybe I just wanted to look like I lived in the restoration hardware store. This would have been the perfect answer had I married someone slightly wealthier and had an additional 2,000 square feet of house to decorate. 

But before I could make a firm, life changing decision, my endless obsession with art began, and it was everything but consistent.  

There was a constant flow of brightly colored prints, mysterious black and whites, and a wide variety of mixed mediums. There was the large multicolored frog wearing headphones, a pop art print from Home Goods. There was a brightly colored group of African women with accentuated features from an unknown artist. This was an “original” from the Cuban art market when Carnival cruise lines were allowed to make a stop in the country. 

There was the original purple dog from a starving artist out of the Quad Cities, who had sunglasses on and was sitting in a large purple box. And the small antique framed piece depicting a cock fight. Three groups of dueling chickens, one dead on the ground bleeding out. Apparently, all crafted utilizing real feathers from a fighting chicken back in the 1950’s. 

And then, of course, there was Pete the Cat. Not everyone knows that James Dean was an artist prior to writing his first children's book. And there on my wall hangs a vibrant yellow 40X40 background with a large blue cat cleaning out his own litter box. A true original by James Dean himself titled ‘Self Cleaning Litter Box’. 

This obsession, coupled with the impossibility of picking one style and carrying it through, lead to an empty 2500 square foot home with an elaborate gallery wall. There was only enough furniture to cover a 2-bedroom apartment, but there was Pete.

After 800 hours of scrolling through Pinterest, I came to a realization. My personal identity could not be defined to one particular style; I needed a little bit of everything to make sense. And as I researched, I discovered the word eclectic and the associated interior design compilation. The challenge now was behind how to integrate multiple different styles into something appealing. 

This concept quickly expanded from my home to my personality, and eventually into my leadership. There is never one leadership style or tactic that is going to transition to every scenario. I have to have a clear understanding of what my team and environment need in the moment, and I cannot be confined to experts in my field. I have to be willing and able to adapt and strategize in areas that have zero connection to my day-to-day work. 

Eclectic notions are sometimes only understood and respected by a small compliment of people. Individuals who are willing and able to challenge the complacent relationship we tend to have with styles and concepts. Both tangibly and philosophically.

A realization is that these individuals don’t always develop a new idea. Instead, they gather information and data, determine where the truths are, and how they can be individually applied. Although they are not always innovators in the technical realm of developing new ideas, these individuals are geniuses at understanding existing concepts and applying them to a variety of scenarios. They are promoters of a wide range of ideas that they can find truth in, regardless of their origin. 

As with my personal style, I was constantly striving to conform to some sort of leadership “type”. Transformational, servant, democratic, coaching, all the fad styles that are available. Scrolling through LinkedIn had turned into scrolling through my Pinterest app; a chaotic effort of focusing on embodying some specificity with my leadership style. But finally realizing you don't have to identity with just one.

My current approach is to study a wide range of successful leaders, despite their occupation. It may be a sports expert, an actor, or someone who has managed the military. My piece on abandonment was rooted from Amy Poehler’s master class. Her connection to comedy helped me understand and appreciate team abandonment, although I have no direct connection to her line of work.

We are inundated with solicitation from leadership and life coaches wanting us to pay thousands of dollars so they can teach us how to be better leaders. But there are a lot of answers out there at our fingertips. Turn on a master class about improv on your next Delta flight, instead of another repeat episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. You will be astounded by what you take away from the most unexpected experts. 

As with eclectic interior décor, this strategy can create a busy and chaotic environment within leadership. I have to have clear discernment between the outlandish concepts that may have to be stored away, and the pieces that are feasible and make sense to execute with my team. 

For example, I do not have the ability to change my company's annual review process. I have read there is more benefit to a frequent quarterly cadence, and some companies have even disposed of the arbitrary rating scale.

But thinking I am going to implement this across my huge organization would be the equivalent of placing a life size replica of Michelangelo's David in the middle of my apartment. The concept may be good, and it may work in some boutique hotel, but it’s going to give my 650 square foot apartment the wrong tone. 

What I can do is structure individual quarterly meetings where we discuss where team members feel their performance is and if it aligns with my perception of their performance. Not simply are they meeting or not meeting goals, but how is their communication? Do they have opportunities with leadership and talent management? Maybe I want to highlight their strong change agility? Do they have a strong grasp on business acumen, or do we need to spend more time in this space? 

Although I can’t change the company structure, I can gracefully implement this concept and maintain the integrity of our organization's strategy behind Human Capital. These small tweaks can move a team forward while keeping the chaos of my eclectic style organized and relevant to the team.

And although my personal space may never be able to measure up to the monumental concept that is the Parker Hotel. I can be brave enough to hang Pete on my wall. James Dean was the inventor, but I identified the genius behind it.

When I am asked the question now, ‘what is my leadership style?’ I maintain a consistent answer: 

‘There is no one leadership style that matches every situation. I have to understand many and be able to execute on what the scenario would benefit from the most at the time, while practicing within the company's values and strategic goals.’