Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact

by Liz Wiseman

Some people seem to know how to make themselves valuable. They pay attention. They look for the most productive places to put their capability to use. They make things work, and they get the job done, even when the job gets difficult. They not only deliver results but send ripples of positive impact throughout their team and across the organization. Managers trust them when the stakes are high and turn to them in critical situations. They find a way to break through and make an impact while others are merely going through the motions.

When Ben put himself into the shoes of the divisional executives, he realized that he wouldn’t really care about how much training people attended; he would care about who knew their stuff and how ready people were to work with customers to sell and support the new products. He reoriented his entire approach around readiness instead of training. He and his staff introduced certification testing and actually encouraged people to self-study and test out of training if that allowed them to get up to speed faster.

There are thousands of books about how to excel as a leader, but how does one become a top contributor?

The following practices were the five key differentiators we found between Impact Players and their colleagues.

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Do the Job That’s Needed. When dealing with messy problems, Impact Players address the needs of the organization; they venture beyond their assigned job to tackle the real job that needs to be done.

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Step Up, Step Back. When it’s clear that something needs to be done but it’s unclear who’s in charge, Impact Players step up and lead.

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Finish Stronger. Impact Players tend to be completion freaks; they stick with things and get the entire job done, even when the job becomes hard and plagued with unforeseen obstacles.

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Ask and Adjust. Impact Players tend to adapt to changing conditions faster than their peers because they interpret new rules and new targets as opportunities for learning and growth.

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Make Work Light. When a team is weighed down by increased pressure and unrelenting demands, Impact Players make hard work easier.

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These five practices, along with the outlook that drives each, constitute the Impact Player Mindset, a framework for high-value contribution.

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