12
Are you a “Multiplier” or a
“Diminisher” within your school
district? The answer may not be
as simple as it looks, according
to Liz Wiseman, who wrote the
best-selling book
Multipliers:
How the Best Leaders Make
Everyone Smarter.
“There
are
accidental
diminishers,
leaders
who,
despite their good intentions,
drain instead of amplify the
innovation, productive effort
and collective intelligence of
the people around them,”
said Wiseman, formerly a
senior manager at Oracle
Corporation who spoke
recently at the Global
Leadership
Summit
sponsored by the Willow
Creek Association.
During her 17 years as
the software giant’s vice
president in charge of global
talent development and head
of the corporate Oracle
University, Wiseman said
she became a “genius
watcher,” with a front-row
seat to study leadership. She
became intrigued by the
differing management styles
she observed in geniuses
and genius-makers -- and
the profound effect those contrasting styles had on
people in their organizations.
What followed was two years of study and
research with Greg McKeown, who was studying at
Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. They
studied more than 150 leaders and their practices
and interviewed current and former members of their
management teams. The end result was a stark
difference showing that “Multipliers” – leaders who
looked beyond their own genius and focused their
energy on extracting and extending the genius of
others – got vastly more out of their teams. In fact,
people who worked for leaders who fit the “Multiplier”
definition when asked to identify the percentage of
their capability that was being used, was in the 70 to
100 percent range compared to the 20 to 50 percent
range of capability used for those who worked for
bosses who fit the “Diminisher” description.
Diminishers often hire or collect great talent, but
then micromanage that talent, delegating only small
decisions. As mentioned earlier, there is another
category of “accidental diminishers,” leaders who
mean well but unintentionally can stifle people. Some
examples
Wiseman
used
included:
The Idea Person:
This person
comes up with new idea after
new idea, sending the team off
in one direction one week and
in a different direction the next
week. Nothing gets done, and
everyone else stops coming up
with ideas because they come
to understand that the only
good ideas come from the top.
The Always-On Person:
This
person dominates meetings
with their ideas, opinions and
thoughts.
Everyone
else
eventually tunes them out.
The Rescuer:
If there is a
problem, this person has the
solution. The self-confidence of
subordinates
goes
south
because they don’t have any
opportunity to solve their
problems so they don’t even
make the attempt.
The Pace-Setter:
This high-energy person prides
themselves in outworking everyone around them and
always being out front. Others hold back and become
spectators.
The Optimist:
To this person, everything is “can
do” and every project can easily be accomplished by
people who share the enthusiasm. Problem is, some
things actually are hard to accomplish and
(Continued on page 13)
Michael Chamness
IASA Director of
Communications
Leadership Thoughts:
Are you a ‘MulƟplier’ or ‘Diminisher’?
