I like to read books on business management and leadership. I fancy myself as a good manager and leader of people, but know there is much for me to learn and improve. Every now and then a book comes along that causes me to stop and evaluate where I truly fall on the continuum of good leadership. Multipliers is one of those books.
This book operates from the premise that within an organization, there are Diminishers and Multipliers. A Diminisher is “”a person who led an organization or management team that operated in silos, found it hard to get things done, and despite having smart people, seemed to not be able to do what is needed to to reach its goals.” A Multiplier is “a person who led an organization or management team that was able to understand and solve hard problems rapidly, achieve its goals and adapt and increase its capacity over time.” In short, a Multiplier can get more out of their people than a Dimisher.
Liz Wiseman and Greg McKeown researched the question, “What are the vital few differences between intelligence Diminishers and intelligence Multipliers and what impact do they have on organizations?” Through interviews they identified people in both categories and then identified the characteristics and measured the productivity gains, or lack thereof. They found Diminishers tend to tap only 50% of the team’s potential, while Multipliers often get more than a 2X increase of productivity from their people.
They identify five key attributes and discuss them, including key activities one can employ to develop these multiplying effects. They include:
- The Talent Magnet
- The Liberator
- The Challenger
- The Debate Maker
- The Investor
Each chapter is illustrated with many examples of each side of the equation. The examples ring true, as I have worked with many people who exemplify both of these good and bad traits. I could easily see the evidence of the attribute and began immediately identifying them in those I work with now. Then I started seeing them in my own behavior.
One thing I usually find lacking in leadership books are concrete, ‘next action’ tasks provided by the author to move the reader to the desired goal. Wiseman and McKeown don’t fall into this trap. The entire last chapter of the book is devoted development of the characteristics they espouse. The exercises are valid, pertinent, and I look forward to doing them.
For me, the best chapter of the book was one found deep in the appendix: Frequently Asked Questions. The authors answer many questions they have encountered while presenting the material. Not surprisingly, they were the same questions I had. The answers spurred me to take on my own experiment of their work.
I don’t have direct reports in my current position. In fact, my organization has purposefully limited the ability of the project manager to influence their destiny by removing any responsibility for the people who work on our projects. This makes it easy to walk away from attempting anything Wiseman and McKeown recommend. washing the hands of responsibility. However, after reading this book, I am determined to hone my strengths and improve my weakness and see if I can multiply my project team. I may not have direct responsibility of the people, but I can attempt to capture their best effort on my project. I am looking forward to the challenge of attempting something they don’t even cover: multiplying the efforts of contractors. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what any author would hope to achieve: the reader breaking from their comfort zone to implement the material of their book. This is one of those books. Get it. Read it. And read it again.
A 