Liz Wiseman writes, “Good leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the school. It’s about recognizing the talent that’s lurking in your teachers’ lounge, front office, and classrooms.” Wiseman is the coauthor of Multipliers, How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (2010). Multipliers amplify the collective intelligence and bring out the genius within everyone. The converse to a multiplier is the diminisher. This type of leader drains the intelligence from others to obtain the results they desire. Sometimes within schools there are constrained resources but the multiplier seeks to maximize underutilized talent and optimizes the collective intelligence of the group thus nurturing creativity.
Multipliers are able to get far more productivity from people than diminishers. During Wiseman’s research she discovered that diminishers were able to only capitalize on 48% of people’s brainpower whereas the multiplier on average got 97%. Leaders with multiplier characteristics were able to double the amount of
brainpower utilized to achieve organization outcomes. Anyone can become a multiplier by practicing and refining the book’s 5 disciplines.
1. The Talent Magnet-Attracts talented people and uses them at their highest point of contribution.
2. The Liberator-Creates an intense environment that requires people’s best thinking and work.
3. The Challenger-Defines opportunity and causes people to stretch.
4. The Debate Maker-Drives sound decisions through rigorous debate.
5. The Investor-Gives other people the ownership for results and invests in their success.
The simple underlying order to the thought process of diminishers and multipliers is based on intellectual capacity.
Multipliers believe that intelligence is abundant and exists in various forms while diminishers view people in a dichotomy of either smart or dumb. The diminsher’s perspective is based on the premise that intelligence is a gift (FROM GOD?) and some people have it while others don’t. The multiplier, on the other hand, sees that there are numerous ways for people to contribute and there are different kinds of smart. It is noted that people love to work with multipliers. I am certain you can begin to immediately associate the term multiplier to people you work with. However,
I am also pretty sure you can identify people in your life that may accidentally or purposefully be pegged as diminishers as well. Multipliers get results, ask people to do hard things, and expect great work. People who work with them admit it is exhausting yet simultaneously exhilarating. When you are associated with multipliers you quickly notice that everyone gets smarter and achieves. Diminishers also get results, expect great work, and ask people to do
hard things but they do so at the expense of a person and the collective intelligence. Diminishers achieve results by sucking dry the marrow from the bone. People who work for diminishers frequently describe it as grueling. It is all about the perspective and purpose these two types of leaders employ when approaching leadership development and problem-solving.
Anyone can become a multiplier or even a diminisher for that matter. In the vast majority of cases it is a rational individual choice. An old proverb epitomizes the quality of a multiplier where it states, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” When I am gone, either through death or attrition, I desire my legacy to be that of the
multiplier. Teachers are leaders as well. They lead among colleagues, parents, and every day the students assigned to their classroom. A teacher can intensify the virtue of multipliers and develop the same capacity in their students. Shelley Gies, Principal of Clark Elementary, inspired me to reflect on multipliers today when she sent out to the corporation administrative team this quote, “Successful people build each other up. They motivate, inspire, and
push each other. Unsuccessful people just hate, blame, and complain.” If you desire to become a multiplier or wish to learn more, I invite you to read Multipliers, How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (2010) by Liz Wiseman.
Posted by John Schilawski 4/30/14
Multipliers are able to get far more productivity from people than diminishers. During Wiseman’s research she discovered that diminishers were able to only capitalize on 48% of people’s brainpower whereas the multiplier on average got 97%. Leaders with multiplier characteristics were able to double the amount of
brainpower utilized to achieve organization outcomes. Anyone can become a multiplier by practicing and refining the book’s 5 disciplines.
1. The Talent Magnet-Attracts talented people and uses them at their highest point of contribution.
2. The Liberator-Creates an intense environment that requires people’s best thinking and work.
3. The Challenger-Defines opportunity and causes people to stretch.
4. The Debate Maker-Drives sound decisions through rigorous debate.
5. The Investor-Gives other people the ownership for results and invests in their success.
The simple underlying order to the thought process of diminishers and multipliers is based on intellectual capacity.
Multipliers believe that intelligence is abundant and exists in various forms while diminishers view people in a dichotomy of either smart or dumb. The diminsher’s perspective is based on the premise that intelligence is a gift (FROM GOD?) and some people have it while others don’t. The multiplier, on the other hand, sees that there are numerous ways for people to contribute and there are different kinds of smart. It is noted that people love to work with multipliers. I am certain you can begin to immediately associate the term multiplier to people you work with. However,
I am also pretty sure you can identify people in your life that may accidentally or purposefully be pegged as diminishers as well. Multipliers get results, ask people to do hard things, and expect great work. People who work with them admit it is exhausting yet simultaneously exhilarating. When you are associated with multipliers you quickly notice that everyone gets smarter and achieves. Diminishers also get results, expect great work, and ask people to do
hard things but they do so at the expense of a person and the collective intelligence. Diminishers achieve results by sucking dry the marrow from the bone. People who work for diminishers frequently describe it as grueling. It is all about the perspective and purpose these two types of leaders employ when approaching leadership development and problem-solving.
Anyone can become a multiplier or even a diminisher for that matter. In the vast majority of cases it is a rational individual choice. An old proverb epitomizes the quality of a multiplier where it states, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” When I am gone, either through death or attrition, I desire my legacy to be that of the
multiplier. Teachers are leaders as well. They lead among colleagues, parents, and every day the students assigned to their classroom. A teacher can intensify the virtue of multipliers and develop the same capacity in their students. Shelley Gies, Principal of Clark Elementary, inspired me to reflect on multipliers today when she sent out to the corporation administrative team this quote, “Successful people build each other up. They motivate, inspire, and
push each other. Unsuccessful people just hate, blame, and complain.” If you desire to become a multiplier or wish to learn more, I invite you to read Multipliers, How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (2010) by Liz Wiseman.
Posted by John Schilawski 4/30/14