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When facing an impasse, try regrouping and resetting your aspiration—instead of attempting to win, just stay in the game.
It’s hard to be brilliant if you lack critical information. In particular, people generally need two types of information to achieve top performance. The first is clear direction—What is the target, and why is it important?
The next time someone gives you a statement of work, ask to begin with a problem definition instead.
Ask good questions and then watch for evidence of Multiplier leadership. Pay attention to their talk-to-listen ratio. Listen to how they talk about their team. Do they mention people’s brilliance or do they list their duties? How much ownership do team members have? How do decisions get made? Check reviews and see what former employees say.
managers are utilizing approximately 76 percent of the intelligence of their direct reports and only 62 percent of their peers and 66 percent of their supervisors.
You can broadcast your capabilities and help your colleagues pick up the signal. Or you can simply tell people what you are good at and how you can be best used.
A good manual tells you what the product is designed to do and how best to use it.
Once you’ve figured out your genius, give it a name, like “troubleshooting,” (or even a superhero name like the Process Surgeon) and then outline a number of ways that your genius can be put to work. For example, you could help your department get a late project delivered on time, win back a troubled account, or lead a cross-team task force to reduce bureaucracy. Once you’ve got your “guide” together, discuss these ideas with your boss or the person who can cast you in these roles. If you want to work at your highest point of contribution, you need to let people know your value.
“Diminishers want to be heard. They want to know that the ideas that they put forth are really good ideas. If you start by acknowledging their worth and that their ideas do have merit, you’ve got a good beginning.” But, Pethel does more than just listen; he makes sure the person knows he is genuinely listening. He faces them and asks, “Do you mind if I take some notes? I like to go back and think about what you said.” He then summarizes what he’s heard and looks for mutual agreement. In the process, the other person becomes less of a Diminisher and more of a partner.
When an employee makes a mistake and hides their misdeeds, it leaves the manager to question both their capability and their judgment and to assume the mistake will be repeated.
Set the tone by readily admitting your mistakes, sharing your learning, and letting the boss know that you’re smarter each time. Doing so will reinforce a core Multiplier belief that people are smart and can learn from their mistakes and figure it out.
Or simply ask your manager what work you can take off her plate. Start small and prove yourself.
when you submit a document for review, point out specific questions you’d like them to address. In this way, you focus their energy and steer their contribution to where it is most valuable or, perhaps, simply to where it is least damaging.
People cannot change others, only themselves. And change will occur only if an individual recognizes the problem of their own volition and has a deep desire (and incentive) to change their mode of operation.
recognize and appreciate every attempt in the right direction, even the smallest acts of good leadership.
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. LAO TZU
Virtually all readers have confessed that they see some degree of diminishing behaviors in themselves.
The Zenger-Folkman study demonstrates that leaders do not need to be good at everything. They need to have mastery of a small number of skills and be free of showstopping weaknesses.
He took note of the native genius of each member of his team. In his next staff meeting, he spoke about each person, why they were needed on the team, and the unique capabilities they brought. He went beyond labeling each person’s genius one-on-one and labeled it in front of the whole group. The team then reviewed the work that needed to get done over the next quarter and determined assignments. Although not explicitly asked of them, the team naturally ensured each person had an assignment that demanded one or more of their unique capabilities.
Christine summarized her learning by saying, “The silence creates the space. The space creates results. The results are valuable. And I have already seen a payoff!”
Throughout the debate, Gary asked each team member to assume untypical “job” roles to hash out the pros and cons of potential decisions. This process prompted nearly everyone to change their initial opinion at least once.
share your strategy with colleagues who are likely to encourage you along the way. If you are making a 180-degree shift, talking it out with a few team members will reduce the freak-out factor that your changes might create—quickly
Mike could have preached the trust message and conducted seminars on trust, governing from a closed office and dispatching staff people to look for signs of noncompliance. Instead, Mike and his management team started to build trust by extending trust to employees and by asking a lot more questions. They weren’t interrogating, gotcha questions; they were sincere questions, the ones that say, I want to know what you think, and why.
Strong cultures typically exhibit the following traits: Common language: Words and phrases that hold a common meaning within a community based on opinions, principles, and values6 Learned behaviors: A set of learned responses to stimuli7 Shared beliefs: The acceptance of something as true8 Heroes and legends: People who are admired or idealized for their qualities, behavior, and/or achievements and the stories told about their heroic actions9 Rituals and norms: Consistent behavior regularly followed by an individual or a group10
Plato offers this insight: “The overwhelming majority of individuals will prove incapable of resisting the voice of the culture that surrounds them: in the typical case, their values, their beliefs, indeed, their very perceptions will tend to mirror those of the surrounding culture.”
It is much like when a patient begins taking a prescribed course of antibiotics and fails to complete the full course of treatment, thus running the risk that the bacteria will survive, mutate, and become resistant. Similarly, incomplete attempts to introduce a new culture cannot only fail to produce results but can also cause residual resentment that can become resistant to future initiatives.
lighthearted “Whoa, slow down, cowboy.” The message was sent quickly and humorously rather than festering or getting queued for inclusion in an annual performance review.
My colleagues and I have noticed that most successful implementations typically start in the middle. Here’s why. When middle managers experiment with the Multipliers mindsets and practices inside their organizations, they produce pockets of success—anomalies that catch the attention of senior executives
To be a Multiplier, you don’t need to shrink. To grow people around you, you need to play in a way that invites others to play big. I think you’ll find that as you bring out the best in others, you also bring out the best in yourself.
We see the Diminisher–Multiplier model as a continuum with a few people at the extremes
It’s OKAY to fail when: a) the learning is greater than the cost; b) we have time or resources to recover; or c) when customers or students are not harmed, etc.
Tom saw an opportunity to use Extreme Questions. Instead of making assumptions about what Mike knew, Tom prepared for their time together by writing a list of questions. Through the use of questions Tom was able to learn more about Mike’s previous experiences and gauge what aspects of the onboarding process would be of most value to both Mike and LG.
Frame the issue • Define the question: A good debate question has clear options from which to choose. • Explain why it is a critical question and requires debate. • Form the team: Ask people to come prepared with information/data/evidence as support. • Clearly communicate how the decision will be made. 2. Spark the debate • Ask the debate question. • Ask people to support their positions with evidence. • Ask everyone to weigh in. • Ask people to switch positions and argue the other side. 3. Drive a sound decision • Re-clarify the decision-making process. • Make the decision.
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People operate at their best when they are in charge and held accountable for their work.
You are in charge (hence, I am not). • You get to make the final decision (I will weigh in, but if we disagree, you make the call). • I expect you to be the one to move things forward (I will participate, but will follow your lead).
The three traits most correlated with Multiplier leaders are: intellectual curiosity, asking great questions, and customer focus.
Do they have a grown or fixed Mindset? Ask: How have you become better as a leader?
Are they self or team focused? Ask: Tell me about your team? Listen for: Not what they say, but how long they can talk. If they are self-focused, the conversation will come back to them quickly.
