Every Monday morning in the Leadership Corner column inside the Business section, successful Hawai'i leaders share their insights into what it takes to run a business, government agency or nonprofit organization.

It's a feature that started almost four years ago to let business owners and other executives share with others how they motivate workers, their thoughts on good leadership qualities and their advice for those who might want to follow a similar career path.

The first leader interviewed for the column was Campbell Estate trustee David Heenan. Since then, Advertiser reporters have interviewed almost 200 executives of large and small companies in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors.

Sometimes the columns make news. In one column, L&L Drive-Inn owner Eddie Flores revealed he planned to expand to the East Coast. Another column resulted in a nice windfall — a sizeable donation to Hawai'i Theatre for Youth.

But the primary goal of the column is to provide a forum in which respected Island executives can share with others their ideas, motivation tools and vision.

The feature has evolved and changed a little since it first started, but each is a mix of personal profile questions and questions targeted to the person, company or field.

Advertiser reporter Dan Nakaso is now responsible for the feature.

Even though the columns follow a standard format, each requires a fair amount of preparation work. And in each case, Nakaso tries to get to know the subject of the interview, at least on paper.

Before he talks with the subject of the column, Nakaso will first look through our library of clippings of past stories to background himself, will review the person's resume, look through any promotional material that might be available and will do an Internet search.

Good leaders apply life experiences and knowledge to their interpersonal dealings with workers and customers. Likewise, reporters try to get as much insight as they can on the person they are interviewing so their questions are more informed.

Nakaso avoids telephone interviews, preferring in-person questions because he will often see and hear things that lead to some of the most interesting questions.

When Nakaso interviewed Walid Kaakoush, the 31-year-old vice president/campus director of the University of Phoenix Hawai'i campus, he noticed a Vince Lombardi poster on his wall. That prompted a question on why someone with a soccer background displays quotes from a football icon. The answer, Nakaso recalled, provided interesting insight on Kaakoush's personal views on leadership.

And that is the core of what we strive to provide in each one of the columns.

Book stores are filled with textbooks and self-help books on leadership, management and business philosophies. We hope to find leaders who can provide real-life experiences of successful personal motivation and leadership.

When The Advertiser business section started Leadership Corner in September 2002, the idea was that each interview could be viewed as a chapter in a book so that by the end of the year there would be a compilation of 52 leaders and their stories of making it to the top.

Reach Anne Harpham at aharpham@honoluluadvertiser.com.