Liz Wiseman is an award-winning researcher and executive advisor who teaches leadership to executives worldwide. In her groundbreaking bestseller Multipliers, she shows how leaders who increase intelligence and capabilities often outshone those who depleted them for better results.
Wiseman conducted interviews with over two hundred leaders and identified five disciplines that distinguish multipliers from diminishers: These are:
1. Challenge
We have all encountered two very distinct leaders. Some can drain intelligence, energy and capability from those around them – these diminishers – always seeking to be seen as smartest person in the room. But other leaders – multipliers – get more done while producing better results by amplifying intelligence of those they lead.
Multipliers are “Investors,” helping their teams find ownership over the work and develop their capabilities. They foster safe spaces for lively discussion and constructive criticism – as evidenced by one marketing firm’s open forum approach that unlocked breakthrough strategies, demonstrating Multiplier leadership’s direct impact on innovation. Furthermore, Multipliers encourage team members to challenge themselves beyond their comfort zones, with one such instance being when an underperforming sales team became top performers under Multiplier guidance.
Diminishers create an intense environment that stunts people’s thinking and performance, whereas multipliers unleash the inner genius of their teams by encouraging risk taking and rewarding performance. They promote an atmosphere in which effort is celebrated while still receiving its full reward.
In summary, this book details how school systems can act as multipliers to empower both staff and students to reach unprecedented heights of success. It details how to recognize and support multiplier leaders within schools as well as encouraging the emergence of multiplier leaders elsewhere. Designed with simplicity in mind, with clear steps outlined for implementation using real world examples as well as research findings, this must-read for leaders looking to unlock the brilliance within their team.
2. Stretch
Liz Wiseman, CEO of leadership research and development firm The Wiseman Group, discusses how leaders can amplify the ideas and abilities of their team members through leadership styles such as Diminishers and Multipliers that can significantly impact team performance. According to Liz, unlocking full team potential lies within shifting from playing small to thinking big – something Liz believes leaders must remember as part of unlocking it all.
Wiseman shares how her personal experiences have led her to believe that people produce their best work when challenged outside their comfort zones and challenged. Additionally, she discusses a common mistake well-meaning managers make by unknowingly diminishing their teams resulting in discouragement and underperformance.
At some point in our careers, we have all encountered Diminisher leaders: individuals who believe they know everything, tell everyone exactly what to do, make decisions unilaterally and micromanage. Such leaders tend to drain workplace intelligence, energy and human capacity. By contrast, Multipliers bring out intelligence in others while encouraging their unique perspectives to contribute their unique contributions.
Multiplier leaders are talent magnets who know how to develop, energize and cultivate fresh ideas and energies within their organizations. Because of this talent magnetism, multiplier leaders often produce more with less by getting more done using existing resources while building an environment conducive to growth and innovation.
Superintendents can become catalysts of breakthroughs within their organizations by understanding and adopting a multiplier mindset, as well as by understanding and using Multiplier Leadership models to identify their own leadership style and grasping its nuances. Through doing so, superintendents can help their team members overcome obstacles to find success against all odds while speeding learning processes forward.
3. Ownership
Leadership ownership is an essential element in creating meaningful change. Liz Wiseman, coauthor of The Multiplier Effect, has found that effective leaders create an environment in which cross-functional team intelligence and abilities are maximized. They must empower people to think for themselves while simultaneously cultivating a culture of collaboration that leads towards success.
Wiseman divides leaders into two distinct types: Multipliers and Diminishers. Multipliers bring out the native genius in those they lead and magnify intelligence and capability of their team; on the other hand, Diminishers become so self-absorbed with their own genius that they stifle others; research has indicated that diminishers only utilize part of their staff’s capabilities.
Wiseman’s book details that leadership can be learned, with the key element being identifying what type of leader you are and your personal strengths and weaknesses before offering experiments and tips that can help transform you into an Influencer or Multiplier.
Wiseman offers a powerful new strategy to defend against “Accidental Diminishers”, or well-intentioned leaders who unwittingly suppress potential of those around them. She also suggests how you can foster an “Multiplier mindset” within both your boss and team.
Elise Foster is an education and industry leadership coach specializing in helping education and industry leaders tap into capability and unlock potential in their organizations. She assists leaders to identify any underlying beliefs that block them from realizing their own vision of leadership. Elise has worked in both the public and private sector as an administrator, principal, assistant superintendent, speech and language pathologist and teacher and holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from San Jose State University.
4. Autonomy
Autonomy is one of the cornerstones of human existence, yet when trying to define it we often become overwhelmed by its complexities. Being autonomous involves self-rule based on one’s desires, conditions and characteristics rather than external forces imposed from outside oneself or those that we cannot truly embrace; hence any attempt at specifying autonomy inevitably ignites controversy and calls into question its inherent worth versus an oppressive force imposed from without.
Liz Wiseman has discovered through her research that some leaders amplify the intelligence and talent of their teams while others diminish it, creating what she refers to as multipliers and diminishers respectively. Multipliers provide people working for them with an opportunity to produce their best work while stretching beyond current capacities to make smart decisions which they own and understand, while those under Diminishers may feel oppressed and powerless. In contrast, those working under diminishers may feel suppressed and frustrated.
Wiseman offers practical insights from her Global Leadership Summit talk on becoming a Multiplier while avoiding accidental Diminishing, providing practical strategies to increase both individual impact and that of any organization you lead. She offers tips, experiments and actions designed to amplify impact – whether for yourself personally or for those that come under your direction.
Liz Wiseman is a New York Times bestselling author of two leadership books: “Multipliers” and “Rookie Smarts”, serving clients such as Apple, AT&T, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Nike, Salesforce and Twitter as clients of her Wiseman Group company. Liz also lectures at Wharton Business School as an adjunct faculty member while her most recent book release called “Multiply” will be out soon – check it out here to learn more! This interview covers topics such as uncovering individual genius within teams while encouraging teams to challenge each other while simultaneously building team spirit!
5. Learning Zone
Multipliers go beyond diversity and inclusion to foster healthy debate within their teams and welcome diverging opinions – using each member’s strengths for greater results in the work they accomplish together.
Wiseman emphasizes that leaders operating in a Diminisher mode unwittingly stifle the growth of their teams, so understanding these two forms of leadership are critical in optimizing team performance.
As leaders embrace the principles of Multipliers, they can unlock their team members’ potential and foster an environment conducive to innovation. To do so successfully, leaders must be willing to step outside their comfort zones into “brave spaces”, where they can experiment with new ideas and approaches with an aim towards producing improved outcomes.
Leaders need the tools necessary to flourish in this difficult terrain; one such tool is scaffolding – a process which provides support as leaders transition into their learning zone, through regular encouragement and feedback sessions, reflective practice sessions, strategic questions and examples.
Taken within the context of a remote working environment, taking an inclusive and empowering work culture can be particularly difficult. To start out, introduce one team member at a time to lead meetings while contributing 10% less than usual – this gives them an opportunity to discover their strengths and build confidence as leaders. Eventually, you could increase the frequency of meetings led by those chosen as leads; you’ll find they become much more engaged at the office by connecting on deeper levels with their colleagues.
