“The biggest leadership challenge of our times is not insufficient
resources per se, but rather our inability to access the most
valuable resources at our disposal.” (p. xii)

Stephen R. Covey

Liz Wiseman’s revised 2017 work serves as a “how-to” guide for any leader interested in increasing engagement levels within their teams or overall organization. She contrasts Multipliers and Diminishers throughout the book and we may also think of a Diminisher as an evaluator or subject matter expert (SME) and a Multiplier as a leader as coach.

The Diminisher’s view of intelligence is based on elitism and scarcity (p. 17), and Wiseman shares five comparative disciplines of Diminishers and Multipliers in a terrific summary chart (p. 23):

Note the fourfold-plus difference in results, or that multipliers create synergistic teams, often performing well beyond expectations. Wiseman believes Diminisher bosses still exist, but like old BlackBerry phones, it is only a matter of time before they become obsolete and people upgrade to newer models (p. xvii). Both Multipliers and Diminishers may certainly be intelligent, but how their intelligence is used is what distinguishes the two approaches. Multipliers applied their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capability of people around them (p. 5), according to the following logic:

1. Most people in organizations are underutilized.
2. All capability can be leveraged with the right kind of leadership.
3. Therefore, intelligence and capability can be multiplied without requiring a bigger investment.

Descriptions of the five types of multipliers, The Talent Magnet, The Liberator, The Challenger, The Debate Maker, and The Investor, form the heart of the book, and this review specifically comments on the practices of each.

The Talent Magnet | Leader as Coach

Wiseman defines Talent Magnets as people who attract the best talent, utilize it to its fullest, and ready it for the next stage (p. 35). The Talent Magnet spawns a virtuous cycle of attraction and the Empire Builder (Diminisher) spawns a vicious cycle of decline (p. 36). Recall in our Coaching to Develop People workshop, what we do with the average performer, over time, becomes our leader report card.

Talent Magnets (p. 43):

1. Look for Talent Everywhere
2. Find People’s Native Genius
3. Utilize People at Their Fullest
4. Remove the Blockers

Fundamentally, Talent Magnets are optimistic, have an abundance mindset and are continuously searching for and developing others. In contrast, Empire Builders, or Diminishers, are often prima donnas, insisting that they get maximum time onstage and that scripts are written to feature them (p. 57). Multipliers aren’t thinking of themselves, the focus is on others or the team. Ultimately, Talent Magnets encourage people to grow and leave (p. 61).

The Liberator | Motivational Environment

Wiseman describes corporate environments and modern organizations as the perfect setup for diminishing leadership [that] have a certain built-in tyranny (p. 66). She’s right. At multiple client sites, remote worker space is now actually separated into hoteling and leadership hoteling, depending on whether the space is a cubicle or an office with a door. Yikes! Wiseman defines Multipliers, as leaders who liberate people from the oppressive forces within corporate hierarchy (p. 67). Liberators are masters at creating a motivational environment, rather than self-centered managers under the mistaken impression that compliance is energizing.

Liberators (p. 77):

1. Create Space
2. Demand People’s Best Work
3. Generate Rapid Learning Cycles

These Multipliers expect a lot from a motivational environment. Liberators create an intense environment that requires concentration, diligence, and energy (p. 72). On the other hand, Diminishers jerk around the organization as they swing between two modes: 1) militant insistence on their ideas and 2) passive indifference to the ideas and work of others (p. 87).

Continuous feedback is required to sustain such a high performance level. Wiseman informs us that Liberators are more than just good listeners; they are ferocious listeners (p. 79).

The Challenger | Expectations

How are your expectations expressed in your Personal Leadership Philosophy? Are you sharing an inspirational future vision? This is what Challengers do. Challenger assumptions seem to be that people get smarter and stronger by being challenged (p. 104).

Challengers (p. 107):

1. Seed the Opportunity
2. Lay Down a Challenge
3. Generate Belief

Notice Challengers are describing what to do, but not how to do it. Their role is inspiration. These Multipliers provide a starting point but not a complete solution (p. 110). They’re masters of delegation. Diminishers stay in charge and tell others – in detail – how to do their jobs (p. 119).

The Debate Maker | Collaboration

Many of us are natural conflict avoiders, frequently unassertive and uncooperative. Our Conflict Leadership Strategies chart (from Leveraging the Power of Conflict workshops) illustrates the best strategy, both assertive and cooperative, is collaboration. We can think of Debate Makers as collaborators, multipliers who don’t focus on what they know but on how to know what others know (p. 132).

Wiseman reveals that Debate Makers (p. 138):

1. Frame the Issues
2. Spark the Debate
3. Drive Sound Decisions

Consider curiosity, or a habit of continuous learning, as an underappreciated leader trait. As leaders, probably the most important role we can play is asking the right questions and focusing on the right problems (p. 139). We may then adopt an After Action Review (AAR) approach focusing on informed forward-looking decisions. The opposite: Diminishers tend to make decisions quickly, either based solely on their own opinions or with input from a close inner circle (p. 148).

The Investor | Performance Coach

Academy Leadership defines Performance Coaching as:

The process of equipping people with the tools,
knowledge and opportunities they need to develop
themselves and become more successful.

Wiseman calls this type of coach The Investor, multipliers who invest in the success of others (p. 159).

Investors (p. 167):

1. Define Ownership
2. Invest Resources
3. Hold People Accountable

Multipliers understand that their role is to invest, to teach, and to coach, and they keep the accountability for the play with the players (p. 163). Just like elite military teams, individuals hold each other accountable. These Investors have a core belief that people are smart and will figure things out (p. 178). Like the subject matter expert boss, the Diminisher operates from a very different assumption (p. 179):

People will never be able to figure it out without me

Summary

Early in the book Wiseman shares Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace study finding that across 142 countries, only 13 percent of people around the world are fully engaged at work (p. xix). That’s what this book is meant to tackle, the upward engagement climb. Be the engaged curious coach.

It is not surprising that the highest-rated [leadership] practice
for Multipliers was Intellectual Curiosity. (p. 122)

Liz Wiseman generously provided a copy of her book for review.

JE | February 2024