Multipliers, Revised and Updated: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter

by Liz Wiseman

instead of agility, the Rapid Responder tends to generate low-grade apathy. Even the best employees are slow to respond when they know that someone else is already “on it.”

When the leader sees only the upside, others can become preoccupied with the downside.

the “mama bear” can prevent staff from learning from hardship and taking full accountability.

Multipliers create intellectual safety (where people are free to express their ideas), but they don’t shield people from reality, and they don’t necessarily remove obstacles for people.

sometimes a strategic, visionary leader can go too far and be too prescriptive. She might not be leaving enough space for others to think through the challenges themselves and generate the intellectual muscle needed to make a vision a reality.

This leader would generate more movement by seeding a challenge rather than selling a big vision.

American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said, “All human sin seems so much worse in its consequences than in its intentions.”

“When I find myself dealing with a bad leader, I still take their orders, but I latch on to another leader that I trust, someone who can give me an alternative point of view, especially about myself.”

It is never wise to go head-to-head with a headstrong person, especially the boss. My research showed that a frontal attack, such as trying to prove the merits of one’s ideas, only accelerated the death spiral (you might recall that confrontation is the most used yet least effective approach). Even when you win, the victories are usually pyrrhic.

When facing an impasse, try regrouping and resetting your aspiration—instead of attempting to win, just stay in the game.

When you retreat and regroup, you give the Diminisher a way out as well—an opportunity to gracefully rethink an issue and to save face.

The next time a diminishing boss or colleague tries to do something for you that you can do independently, try reminding the person that you can do it yourself. There’s no need to throw a tantrum; just announce and assert your capability.

humor is the trait most negatively correlated with Diminishers),

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?

Diminishers often become so preoccupied with telling people how to shoot that they forget to first establish the target.

When a Diminisher becomes immediately prescriptive, you can ask them to back up and provide ...

The next time someone gives you a statement of work, ask to begin with a problem definition instead.

The second type of critical information is performance feedback: Am I actually hitting the target?