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Instead of making a speech or just selling her vision of service to the poorest members of the community, Irene invited students to take a leadership position and organize other students to work with the community. She took them downtown into the inner-city community so they could see the issues for themselves.
As Peter Block, consulting guru and author, observed, “the most powerful work is done in response to an opportunity not in response to a problem.”
How does a Multiplier achieve this level of stretch without breaking an organization? How do you create intrigue rather than apprehension? In our research, we found that Multipliers achieve this energizing stretch in three ways. First, they extend a clear and concrete challenge. Then they ask the hard questions that need to be answered to achieve the challenge, but—most important—they don’t answer them. They let others fill in the blanks.
By making a challenge real, they allow others to visualize the achievement and communicate the confidence that the organization has the collective brainpower required.
“I don’t need 100 percent answers. I need a 30 percent answer in two days. Give me a 30 percent answer so we can talk about it and decide if it makes sense for you to find a 50 percent answer. And if we get there, we’ll block two months to get a 100 percent answer.”
The direction needs to be improbable but not impossible. It can’t just exist at 30,000 feet. It has to be at the 1,000 foot level. It is irresponsible to ask your team to do something if the CEO exposure is only at the 30,000 foot level. You have to take it down and show that it can be done. You have to show them a pathway and show why it can be done. You only need to do this once to create the belief.”
A bad leader will tell people what to do. A good leader will ask questions and let his or her people figure out the answers. A great leader asks the questions that focus the intelligence of their team on the right problems.
Liz, why don’t you go home tonight and try speaking to your children only in the form of questions. No statements, no directives, no orders. Just questions.”
Identify a major challenge and start the team by getting specific. Make it an intriguing puzzle by detailing the constraints,
picking the low-hanging fruit. The problem is that most leaders do this in isolation. They pick a small group to run a pilot, which catches the attention of management but doesn’t have the visibility to get the attention of the entire organization.
Our research has shown that Diminishers tend to make decisions solo or within a small inner circle. As a result, they not only underutilize the intelligence around them but also leave the organization spinning instead of executing. Multipliers make decisions by first engaging people in debate—not only to achieve sound decisions but also to develop collective intelligence and to ready their organizations to execute.
hold an assumption that there are only a few people worth listening to.
They realize that not all decisions need collective input and debate, but on decisions of consequence, they lead rigorous debate that prosecutes the issues with hard facts and depersonalizes decisions.
“I expect your best thinking here. Everyone should feel not only welcome to speak up, but an obligation to speak up. You can expect us to be thorough. We will be prosecuting assumptions and asking ourselves the tough questions.” Then he officially launched the first of several debates. He sparked the debate through a series of bold questions: “Should we be in the academic space?” and “What would success require?” After each question, he let the team jump in and allowed free debate to proceed. When the discussion was beginning to reach a settling point, he pushed harder, asking people to switch
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A common mistake is attempting to debate a topic rather than a question. The most productive debates are in answer to a well-defined question, one with clear, often mutually exclusive options.
They not only frame the issue but also delineate each person’s assignment.
great debate is: ENGAGING: The question is compelling and important to everyone in attendance. COMPREHENSIVE: The right information is shared to generate a holistic and collective understanding of the issues at hand. FACT BASED: The debate is deeply rooted in fact, not opinion. EDUCATIONAL: People leave the debate more focused on what they learned than on who won or lost.
Jim Barksdale, former CEO of Netscape, was well-known for saying, “If you don’t have any facts, we’ll just use my opinion.”
they reclarify the decision-making process. Second, they make the decision or explicitly delegate it to someone else to decide. And third, they communicate the decision and the rationale behind it.
Are we making the decision right now or do we need more information? Is this a team decision or will the leader make the final call? If it is a team decision, how will we resolve any differing views? Has anything that has surfaced in the debate altered the decision-making process?
Although Multipliers know how to generate and leverage collective thinking, they are not necessarily consensus-oriented leaders. At times, they may seek the full consensus of the group; however, our research shows that they are equally comfortable making the final decision.
Diminishers bring issues or decisions to people’s attention, but they don’t necessarily frame them in a way that allows others to easily contribute.
There are three rules in shared inquiry: 1. THE DISCUSSION LEADER only asks questions. This means that the leader isn’t allowed to answer his or her questions or give his or her interpretation of the story’s meaning. This keeps the students from relying on the leader’s answers. 2. THE STUDENTS must supply evidence to support their theories. If the student thinks that Jack went up the beanstalk a third time to prove his invincibility, he or she is required to identify a passage (or more than one) in the text that supports this idea. 3. EVERYONE participates. The role of the leader is to make
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If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY
If your boss had told you that you owned 51 percent of the vote, how would you operate? Would you second-guess yourself and run all decisions by him? Or would you swing in the opposite direction and make decisions without consulting him? You probably would do neither. Most likely, you would consult your boss on important decisions to get a second opinion, while for the smaller stuff, you might be wise to ignore him or her as needed to get your job done.
When people are given ownership for only a piece of something larger, they tend to optimize that portion, limiting their thinking to this immediate domain. When people are given ownership for the whole, they stretch their thinking and challenge themselves to go beyond their scope.
Diminishers tell you what they know; Multipliers help you learn what you need to know.
Typically, the best people to provide this layer of support are colleagues who can offer guidance without undertones of judgment and disappointment. Instead of jumping in, the Investor provides a backup.
When their people push problems over to the manager’s side of the table, by the end of the conversation, those problems slide right back to where they came from. The leader helps, offers suggestions, asks great questions, and may highlight or escalate a critical issue, but the accountability slides back and rests with their staff. Their tables slant in the direction of other people.
Never give someone an A-W-K without an F-I-X. Don’t just identify the problem; find a solution.
Multipliers never do anything for their people that their people can do for themselves.
When we let nature take its course and allow people to experience the natural consequences of their actions, they learn most rapidly and most profoundly. When we protect people from experiencing the natural ramifications of their actions, we stunt their learning. Real intelligence gets developed through experimentation and by trial and error.
When sales dipped off target, he’d call the CEO at random hours of the night and start screaming. Whatever the situation, Celso was the first to respond. Like Pavlov’s dog, there was no delay between stimulus and response. When he found a problem, he’d jump in immediately and try to fix it himself.
Garth has two modes: one is “all over it” and the other is “completely absent.” When his team is working on an issue with CEO visibility, he jumps in, takes over, and delivers the work straight to his boss, a highly mercurial leader. When the CEO isn’t involved, Garth is nowhere to be seen.
GIVE 51 PERCENT OF THE VOTE. When you delegate, you probably let people know what you are expecting of them. Take this to the next level and let people know that they (not you) are in charge and accountable. Tell them how you will stay engaged and support them, but that they remain in charge.
More often than not, he simply lends a hand, resolves a problem, and helps people across the finish line. Incidentally, we find that this is the most common way leaders accidentally diminish. The intention of the Rescuer is noble.
This is the achievement-oriented leader who leads by example. To build momentum, she personally sets the standard for performance and for exemplifying the values of the organization (such as quality, customer service, innovation, etc.). She takes the lead, sets the pace, and expects that the people around her will notice, follow, and, of course, catch up.
As leaders, sometimes the faster we run, the slower others walk. When leaders set the pace, they are more likely to create spectators than followers.
What about the leader who is quick to take action? This is the leader who prizes agility and fast turnaround. He takes responsibility and is “on it”—he is quick to respond, troubleshoot problems, and make fast microdecisions.
When you play the role of the optimist, you undervalue the struggle the team is experiencing and the hard-fought learning and work.
If the leader continually protects people from danger, they never learn to fend for themselves.
“Are You an Accidental Diminisher?” at www.multipliersbooks.com.
These include abiding by a simple rule of thumb like Wait twenty-four hours before replying to emails if you want others to respond or creating a filter like If you don’t want anyone to take action on this idea, don’t share it yet. As one aspiring Multiplier said, “I can’t control the ideas that pop into my head, but I can control the ones that come out of my mouth.”
Accidental Diminisher Profiles Idea Fountain: Creative, innovative thinkers who think they are stimulating ideas in others Always On: Dynamic, charismatic leaders who think their energy is infectious Rescuer: Empathetic leaders who are quick to help when they see people struggling Pacesetter: Achievement-oriented leaders who lead by example and expect others to notice and follow Rapid Responder: Leaders who are quick to take action believing that they are building an agile, action-oriented team Optimist: Positive, can-do leaders who think their belief in people will inspire them to new heights
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As Sean shifted his focus from confronting to constructing, he found greater purpose as a leader; he was no longer a victim of poor leadership but a respected leader who was shaping the future.
What causes an otherwise decent human being to act like a Diminisher?
The Diminisher’s behavior is more likely a function of the pressure they feel from above or the residual effects of ineffectual role models from their past.
when dealing with teenagers, a smart parent knows to ignore a lot of noise and negative stimulus. You need to continually remind yourself, It isn’t me, and it isn’t forever.
Find a safe sounding board—colleagues where you can test your ideas and sanity-check your work.
the victories are usually pyrrhic.
