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

by Liz Wiseman

Multipliers engage people in debating the issues up front, which leads to decisions that people understand and can execute efficiently.

Diminishers are Decision Makers who try to sell their decisions to others. Multipliers are Debate Makers who generate real buy-in.

Multipliers deliver and sustain superior results by inculcating high expectations across the organization.

They serve as Investors who provide the necessary resources for success. In addition, they hold people accountable for their commitments. Over time, Multipliers’ high expectations turn into an unrelenting presence, driving people to hold themselves and each other accountable, often to higher standards and without the direct intervention of the Multiplier.

The Diminisher is a Micromanager who jumps in and out. The Multiplier is an Investor who gives others ownership and full accountability.

They expect great things from their people and drive them to achieve extraordinary results. They are beyond results-driven; they are tough and exacting.

They look into people and find capability, and they want to access all of it and utilize people to their fullest. They see a lot, so they expect a lot.

The Multiplier approach to management isn’t just an enlightened view of leadership. It is an approach that delivers higher performance because it gets vastly more out of people and returns to them a richly satisfying experience.

these leaders not only utilize all of the intelligence and talent of the people around them, they use all of their own as well.

“I made a decision at this very young age that I would use my God-given talent to help everyone on the team be a better player.”

It’s not that these Multipliers shrink so that others can be big. It’s that they play in a way that invites others to play big, too.

They Have a Great Sense of Humor

Multipliers aren’t necessarily comedians, but they don’t take themselves or situations too seriously. Perhaps because they don’t need to defend their own intelligence, Multipliers can laugh at themselves and see comedy in error and in life’s foibles, and their sense of humor has a liberating effect on others.

humor strengthens relationships, reduces stress, and increases empathy.

Those who work in a fun environment have greater productivity, interpersonal effectiveness, a...

it is indeed possible to be both overworked and underutilized. Latent talent exists everywhere. Organizations are replete with underchallenged resources.

Multipliers are out there, and they know how to find this dormant intelligence, challenge it, and put it to use at its fullest.

“He creates an environment where good things happen. He recruits great people, allows them to make mistakes, and ferociously debates the important decisions. He demands our best, but then shares the success with the whole team.”

Diminishers underutilize people and leave capability on the table. 2. Multipliers increase intelligence in people and in organizations. People actually get smarter and more capable around them. 3. Multipliers leverage their resources. Corporations can get 2× more from their resources by turning their most intelligent resources into intelligence Multipliers.

“What is the next challenge for you? What would be a stretch assignment?”

“What is getting in the way of your being successful?”

Team meetings typically consisted of long briefings from project leaders, followed by the usual project updates from each of the consultants, who reported on progress in their functional area. People stuck to their roles on the team. When one person was struggling, he or she usually just suffered in silence and pulled a few all-nighters rather than solicit help from colleagues. The job got done, but individual efforts were not acknowledged. The only visible recognition came in the form of kudos for the project leader and an increase in the size of his or her organization. As for the destiny of the project members, they were almost certainly guaranteed a role on the next project that closely resembled what they had done on the last project.

If your team meetings look like this, something is wrong

In any organization, there are Talent Magnets, people who attract the best talent, utilize it to its fullest, and ready it for the next stage. These are leaders who have a reputation not only for delivering results but for creating a place where young, talented people can grow. They are accelerators to other people’s careers.

#goals

Would your people describe you as someone who recognizes talented people, draws them in, and utilizes them at their fullest? Would they say they have grown more around you than with any other manager they have worked for?

meaningful role—just

Multipliers operate as Talent Magnets to attract talented people and then use them to their fullest capacity, that is, working at their highest point of contribution.

Empire builders accumulate rather than multiply; they collect people like knickknacks in a curio cabinet—on display for everyone to see, but not well utilized.

The cycle of attraction begins with a leader possessing the confidence and magnetism to surround him- or herself with top talent, or “A players”—sheer raw talent and the right mix of intelligence needed for the challenge. Under the leadership of the Talent Magnet, the genius of these players gets discovered and utilized to the fullest. Having been stretched, these players become smarter and more capable. A players become A+ players who are positioned in the spotlight and get kudos and recognition for their work. They attract attention and their value increases in the talent marketplace, internally or externally.

And then the cycle kicks into hyperdrive. As this pattern of utilization, growth, and opportunity continues to occur, others in the organization and outside notice, and the leader and the organization get a reputation as a “place to grow.” This reputation spreads and more A players flock to work in the Talent Magnet’s organization, so there is a steady flow of talent in the door, replacing talent growing outward.

Talent Magnets create a powerful force that attracts talent and then accelerates the growth of intelligence and capability in others, as well as themselves.

Brian had a reputation for being smart, optimistic, and collaborative, and could solve just about any complex problem that got tossed his way.

The problem was that the division was run by an uncontrolled Diminisher and determined Empire Builder.

Brian went to work solving the complex problems of the emerging division but soon found that the senior vice president running the division didn’t really want the underlying issues addressed. The SVP wanted only to grow an empire! And he wanted growth at any cost. Brian’s role quickly degenerated into window dressing, where he and his team were only tweaking issues on the surface, just enough so the executive committee would continue to fund additional headcount into the organization.

Red flags

For many months, while Brian continued to pursue his work at full throttle, deep problems were festering at the core of the division. With continued indifference from his manager, Brian became numb and started to settle into mediocrity. He lost good players on his team. When other leaders in the company saw the depth of the problems in the division, Brian’s Midas-touch reputation was tarnished. After several years of hanging in there, hoping for things to improve, he found himself stuck in a dying organization, watching his opportunities fade. Soon Brian became one of the walking dead who roam the halls of so many organizations. On the outside, these zombies go through the motions, but on the inside they have given up. This is called “quit and stay.” It was painful to watch this happen to Brian, whom I knew to be an absolute superstar. No doubt you have seen this happen to colleagues in other organizations or have even been there yourself. Is it possible that it is happening inside your own organization?

Empire Builders create a vicious cycle of decline. Talent recruited into their organization soon becomes disengaged and goes stale. The cycle of decline begins much like the cycle of attraction (wh...