Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter

by Liz Wiseman

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Some leaders make us better and smarter. They bring out our intelligence. This book is about these leaders, who access and revitalize the intelligence in the people around them. We call them Multipliers.

Other leaders used their intelligence in a fundamentally different way. They applied their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capability of people around them.

These leaders seemed to make everyone around them better and more capable. These leaders weren’t just intelligent themselves—they were intelligence Multipliers.

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exhilarating.”

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Multipliers get at least two times more from people.

when people work with Multipliers, they hold nothing back.

Multipliers not only access people’s current capability, they stretch it.

children given a series of progressively harder puzzles and praised for their intelligence stagnate for fear of reaching the limit of their intelligence. Children given the same series of puzzles but then praised for their hard work actually increased their ability to reason and to solve problems.

Multipliers actually get 2.1 times more than Diminishers.

What is it tbat tey get? So car, it has not been described.

His need to micromanage limited what the rest of the organization could contribute. His need to put his personal stamp on everything wasted resources

They achieved year-over-year growth in the double digits with virtually flat resources.

Te authors totally ignore the impodtance of the revolutionary nature of products.

how Multipliers access intelligence and get so much from people.

In addition to assuming intelligence is a scarce commodity, Diminishers see intelligence as static, meaning it doesn’t change over time or circumstance.

a “growth mindset,” which is a belief that basic qualities like intelligence and ability can be cultivated through effort.11 They assume: people are smart and will figure it out.

one manager we interviewed who takes stock of her team members by asking herself, In what way is this person smart? In answering this question, she finds colorful capabilities often hidden just below the surface.

their job is to bring the right people together in an environment that liberates people’s best thinking and then to get out of their way.

behavior follows assumptions.

The Diminisher is an Empire Builder. The Multiplier is a Talent Magnet.

The Diminisher is a Tyrant. The Multiplier is a Liberator.

The Diminisher is a Know-It-All. The Multiplier is a Challenger.

The Diminisher is a Decision Maker. The Multiplier is a Debate Maker.

The Diminisher is a Micromanager. The Multiplier is an Investor.

Multipliers aren’t “feel-good” managers. They look into people and find capability, and they want to access all of it.

Multipliers can laugh at themselves and see comedy in error and in life’s foibles. Their sense of humor liberates others.

The humor of the Multiplier is very George Clooney–esque—a self-depreciating wit and an ability to put others at ease, allowing people to be themselves.

Multipliers use humor to create comfort and to spark a natural energy and intelligence in others.

few Diminishers understood the restrictive impact they were having on others.

Diminishers had grown up praised for their personal intelligence and had moved up the management ranks on account of personal—and often intellectual—merit. When they became “the boss,” they assumed it was their job to be the smartest and to manage a set of “subordinates.

it is indeed possible to be both overworked and underutilized.

“He creates an environment where good things happen.

This book is not a prescription for a nice-guy, feel-good model of leadership. It is a hard-edged approach to management that allows people to contribute more of their abilities.

this book isn’t about what they achieve themselves. It is about the impact that these leaders have on others.

Mitt Romney operated as a Talent Magnet. He accelerated the career of Meg Whitman,

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Multipliers operate as Talent Magnets. They attract talented people and then use them to their fullest;

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In 1914, Ernest Shackleton, the venerated British explorer, embarked on an expedition to traverse Antarctica. His recruitment advertisement in The Times (London) read: Men wanted: For hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success. Surprisingly, hundreds of men applied. Shackleton, with the wisdom of an experienced captain, staffed his crew with men of a certain orientation—men who were attracted to adventure and recognition but who were also realistically prepared for the hardship they would face. No doubt Shackleton’s ability to attract the right team was one key factor in the survival of every member of the expedition.

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Brian became one of the walking dead that roam the halls of so many organizations. On the outside, these zombies go through the motions, but on the inside they have given up. They “quit and stay.”

Ignore Boundaries In their quest to assemble the finest talent, Talent Magnets are blind to organizational boundaries.

I vividly remember one of my colleagues trying to explain to me why I was always getting asked to lead these types of meetings. Ben explained, “It is because you can so easily frame the issue, synthesize what people are saying, and lay out a course of action.” What? I stared at him blankly, trying to decipher what he was saying. It sounded like he was telling me that I was good at breathing. It didn’t strike me as a particularly big deal or something someone might find difficult. It was as easy as breathing; at least it was for me. What my colleagues were teaching me was that I had a native ability—something that I did both easily and freely.

What people do easily, they do without conscious effort. They do it better than anything else they do, but they don’t need to apply extraordinary effort to the task. They get results that are head-and-shoulders above others but they do it without breaking a sweat.

ardently.

Finding someone’s native genius is the key that unlocks discretionary effort. It propels people to go beyond what is required and offer their full intelligence.

As you watch someone in action, ask these questions: What do they do better than anything else they do? What do they do better than the people around them? What do they do without effort? What do they do without being asked? What do they do readily without being paid?

huddle the team immediately, and let them know that you’ve removed someone because he or she was holding back the team.