Are you a multiplier manager or a diminisher one?
Do you help people around you grow or do you tend to diminish them?
“Some leaders seemed to boost the collective IQ while others sucked the mental life out of their employees.” — Liz Wiseman “Multipliers”
I’m pretty sure, you’ll recognize your old managers in both these profiles. And to be honest, by reading this book, I recognized myself. I think I had already acted like a diminisher, not intentionally. And you, what type of leader are you? Are you a genius or a genius maker?
So the question is, how do we realize we’re acting like or we are a diminisher, and how change our habits to become an amazing multiplier?
The diminisher always has an answer for everything. He has really strong opinions and put his energy into selling his ideas to others and convincing them to execute on the details. The diminisher thinks people will never figure things out without him. The diminisher is an empire builder. He has hoarded resources and underutilizes talent. Acting like a tyrant, he creates a tense environment that suppresses people’s thinking and capability. He makes centralized and abrupt decisions.
Empire Builders may initially be able to attract top talent, but their focus on building themselves and their organizations underutilizes the true talent that they have in their organization and render it stagnant and inert.
The multiplier is a talent magnet. He attracts talented people and uses them at their highest point of contributions. He creates an intense environment that requires people’s best thinking and work. He drives sound decisions through rigorous debate. He gives other people the ownership of results and invests in their success. He got things from them they didn’t know they had to give, and they are twice as efficient. The multiplier’s department is the place where people go to grow.
And now what do we do? Well, you could start by reading Multipliers. There are a lot of anecdotes, which allow you to identify your own behavior and rectify it.
Watch your team until you have an idea of what they do effortlessly and what area they are naturally drawn to.
Try to create an environment of learning, but expect people to learn from their mistakes. It is another fair trade: I give you permission to make mistakes; you have an obligation to learn from the mistakes and not repeat them. Admit your own mistakes. Challenge them, but don’t generate stress.
Yalla! Let do it and keep in touch.
