Multipliers

Key Concepts

The Multiplier Effect

“Multipliers get more from their people because they are leaders who look beyond their own genius and focus their energy on extracting and extending the genius of others.” (p. 25)

“We asked each person to identify the percentage of their capability that a Diminisher received from them. The numbers typically ranged between 20 and 50 percent. When we asked them to identify the percentage of their capability that the Multiplier extracted, the numbers typically fell between 70 and 100 percent.5 When we compared the two sets of data, we were amazed to find that Multipliers got 1.97 times more. That represents an almost twofold increase—a 2× effect.” (p. 26)

“The reason for the difference is that when people work with Multipliers, they hold nothing back. They offer the very best of their thinking, creativity, and ideas. They give more than their jobs require and volunteer their discretionary effort, energy, and resourcefulness. They actively search for more valuable ways to contribute. They hold themselves to the highest standards.” (p. 26)

The Mind of the Multiplier

“As we studied Diminishers and Multipliers, we consistently found that they hold radically different assumptions about the intelligence of the people they work with.” (p. 32)

“The Diminisher’s view of intelligence is based on elitism and scarcity. Diminishers appear to believe that really intelligent people are a rare breed and that they are of that rare breed.” (p. 32)

“Multipliers have a rich view of the intelligence of the people around them. They don’t see a world where just a few people deserve to do the thinking. In addition, Multipliers see intelligence as continually developing. This observation is consistent with what Dweck calls a “growth mindset,” a belief that basic qualities like intelligence and ability can be cultivated through effort.” (p. 33)

The Empire Builder Versus the Talent Magnet

“The cycle of attraction begins with a leader possessing the confidence and magnetism to surround him- or herself with top talent, or “A players”—sheer raw talent and the right mix of intelligence needed for the challenge. Under the leadership of the Talent Magnet, the genius of these players gets discovered and utilized to the fullest.” (p. 52)

“Empire Builders create a vicious cycle of decline. Talent recruited into their organization soon becomes disengaged and goes stale. The cycle of decline begins much like the cycle of attraction (which is why it is easy to be deceived by Diminishers). Empire Builders seek to surround themselves with A players. But, unlike Talent Magnets, they accumulate talent to appear smarter and more powerful. The leader glosses over the real genius of the people while placing them into boxes on the org chart. The A players have limited impact and start to look more like A– or B+. They fail to get noticed for their work, and they lose intellectual confidence. They begin to recede into the shadow of the Empire Builder. Their value in the job market drops and opportunities begin to evaporate. So they stay and wait, hoping things will turn around.” (p. 54)

The Four Practices of the Talent Magnet

1. Look for Talent Everywhere

2. Find People’s Native Genius

3. Utilize People at Their Fullest

4. Remove the Blockers

Becoming a Talent Magnet

1. “NAME THE GENIUS—Kick-start this cycle by tapping into someone’s native genius and unlocking hidden reserves of discretionary effort. You can start by finding the native genius (that which they do easily and freely) of each individual on your team.” (p. 73)

2. “SUPERSIZE IT—Try sizing someone’s job the way you shop for shoes for a young child. How does the wise parent decide what size to buy? They start by measuring the child’s foot, and then they buy a pair that’s a size too big.” (p. 74)

3. “LET GO OF A SUPERSTAR—Perhaps the only thing harder than watching an A+ player leave your team is knowing that you were the one who encouraged them to move on.” (p. 74)

The Tyrant Versus the Liberator

“Tyrants create a tense environment that is full of stress and anxiety. Liberators like Robert, on the other hand, create an intense environment that requires concentration, diligence, and energy. It is an environment where people are encouraged to think for themselves and also where people experience a deep obligation to do their best work.” (p. 86)

“While a Tyrant creates stress that causes people to hold back, a Liberator creates space for people to step up. While a Tyrant swings between positions that create whiplash in the organization, a Liberator builds stability that generates forward momentum.” (p. 86)

“The secret behind the environment in Mr. Kelly’s classroom (and Ernest Bachrach’s firm and Steven Spielberg’s movie sets) is in the duality we consistently found that Liberators embraced. They appear to hold two ostensibly opposing positions with equal fervor. They create both comfort and pressure in the environment. In the eyes of the Liberator, it is a just exchange: I give you space; you give me back your best work.” (p. 90)

“Liberators also give people space to make mistakes. They create an environment of learning, but they expect people to learn from the mistakes. Another fair trade: I give you permission to make mistakes; you have an obligation to learn from the mistakes and not repeat them.” (p. 91)

The Three Practices of the Liberator

1. Create Space

2. Demand People’s Best Work 

3. Generate Rapid Learning Cycles

The Know-It-All Versus the Challenger

“Diminishers operate as Know-It-Alls, assuming that their job is to know the most and to tell their organization what to do. The organization often revolves around what they know, with people wasting cycles trying to deduce what the boss thinks and how to—at least—look like they are executing accordingly. In the end, Diminishers place an artificial limit on what their organizations can accomplish. Because they are overly focused on what they know, they limit what their organization can achieve to what they themselves know how to do.” (p. 115)

“In setting direction for their organizations, Multipliers have a fundamentally different approach. Instead of knowing the answer, they play the role of the Challenger. They use their smarts to find the right opportunities for their organizations and challenge and stretch their organizations to get there. They aren’t limited by what they themselves know. They push their teams beyond their own knowledge and that of the organization. As a result, they create organizations that deeply understand challenge and have the focus and energy to confront it.” (p. 115)

The Three Practices of the Challenger

1. Seed the Opportunity 

2. Lay Down a Challenge

3. Generate Belief

The Decision Maker Versus the Debate Maker 

“By assuming there are only a few people worth listening to, Diminishers operate as Decision Makers: when the stakes are at their highest, they rely on their own knowledge or an inner circle of people to make the decision.” (p. 145)

“When Multipliers are faced with a high-stakes decision, they have a different gravity pull toward the full brainpower of their organization. In harnessing this knowledge, they play the role of the Debate Maker.” (p. 146)

The Micromanager Versus the Investor

“Multipliers operate as Investors. They invest by infusing others with the resources and ownership they need to produce results independent of the leader. It isn’t just benevolence. They invest, and they expect results.” (p. 172)

“You might ask yourself: How would I coach if I could never step out on the playing field? How would I lead if I couldn’t jump in and take over? How would I respond to a performance gap if I were a Multiplier?” (p. 175)

The Three Practices of the Investor 

1. Defining Ownership

2. Investing Resources

3. Holding People Accountable

The Accidental Diminisher

“We all have Accidental Diminisher moments. The secret to the Multiplier effect is knowing what your vulnerabilities are, spotting them in action, and turning these situations into Multiplier moments.” (p. 205)

“The bad news is that when you have a diminishing impact, you are likely to be completely unaware of it and probably the last to know. As a leader, how do you know whether you are having a diminishing effect, despite having the best intentions? How do you increase your self-awareness? Formulating and recording your own insights is a reasonable first step, but you’ll learn more by asking the people you lead to share their insights.” (p. 214)

Defenses Against the Dark Arts of Diminishing Managers

1. TURN DOWN THE VOLUME. “My research showed that people who cope best with Diminishers don’t bark at every disturbance. They’ve learned what to ignore. ...They choose to turn down the volume, reducing the Diminisher’s intrusion into their head and the other person’s consumption of their life and psychic energy.” (p. 235)

2. STRENGTHEN OTHER CONNECTIONS. “Building on the idea above, we can reduce the effects of the Diminisher by increasing our connections to different people and work. In other words, if you can’t get inside the Diminisher’s trust circle, build other circles of influence.” (p. 236)

3. RETREAT AND REGROUP. “It is never wise to go head-to-head with a headstrong person, especially the boss. My research showed that a frontal attack, such as trying to prove the merits of one’s ideas, only accelerated the death spiral (you might recall that confrontation is the most used yet least effective approach).” (p. 238)

4. SEND THE RIGHT SIGNALS. “The primary cause of micromanaging (the most prevalent form of diminishing) is concern that something won’t get completed fully or correctly. ...You can ward off this form of diminishing by providing delivery assurance. When you deliver the goods as promised, you earn the Diminisher’s trust.” (p. 238)

5. ASSERT YOUR CAPABILITY. “Sometimes you need to tell an overly helpful manager or colleague that you don’t need help.” (p. 240)

6. ASK FOR PERFORMANCE INTEL. “Diminishers often become so preoccupied with telling people how to shoot that they forget to first establish the target. When a Diminisher becomes immediately prescriptive, you can ask them to back up and provide more context and direction.” (p. 241)

7. SHOP FOR A NEW BOSS

Becoming a Multiplier

Accelerator No. 1: Start with the Assumptions

Accelerator No. 2: Work the Extremes: “Begin by assessing your leadership practices and then work the two extremes: 1) neutralize a weakness; 2) top off a strength.” (p. 264)

Accelerator No. 3: Run an Experiment

Accelerator No. 4: Brace Yourself for Setbacks 

Accelerator No. 5: Ask a Colleague: “If you really want to accelerate your development as a Multiplier leader, let a colleague—an employee, peer, or boss—choose your experiment for you. (p. 271)

Quotables

“Perhaps these leaders understood that the person sitting at the apex of the intelligence hierarchy is the genius maker, not the genius.” (p. 20)

“Talent Magnets know how to uncover and access the native genius of others. By “native genius” I mean something even more specific than a strength or a skill that might be highly rated on a 360-degree leadership assessment. A native genius or talent is something that people do, not only exceptionally well, but absolutely naturally. They do it easily (without extra effort) and freely (without condition).” (p. 62)

“Talent Magnets are attracters and growers of talent and intelligence, and leaders who serve as Multipliers provide both the space and the resources to yield this growth. But Talent Magnets go beyond just giving people resources. They remove impediments, which quite often means removing people who are blocking and impeding the growth of others.” (p. 67)

“The late management guru C. K. Prahalad (who passed away in April 2010) was one of my mentors. He once shared with me an old saying in India: ‘Nothing grows under a banyan tree.’” (p. 70)

“One corporate VP had a favorite saying, quoted often and written on her door: ‘Ignore me as needed to get your job done.’” (p. 70)

“Instead of asking, ‘Is this person smart?’ try asking, ‘In what way is this person smart?’ You might discover something that breaks the cycle of assumptions.” (p. 74)

“Talent Magnets create a cycle of attraction that is exhilarating for employer and employee alike. Their organizations are coveted places of employment, and people flock to work for them knowing the Talent Magnet will stretch them, grow them, and accelerate their careers.” (p. 75)

“Let’s face it. Corporate environments and modern organizations are the perfect setup for diminishing leadership and have a certain built-in tyranny. The org charts, the hierarchy, the titles, the approval matrixes skew power toward the top and create incentives for people to shut down and comply. ...These hierarchical structures make it easy for Tyrants to reign. And in their reign, these managers can easily suppress and constrain the thinking of the people around them.” (p. 80)

“Requiring people’s best work is different from insisting on desired outcomes. Stress is created when people are expected to produce outcomes that are beyond their control. But they feel positive pressure when they are held to their best work.” (p. 98)

“K. R. Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy, whose vision is to produce power generators for homes and businesses at half the carbon emissions of traditional power generators, explains, ‘The direction needs to be improbable but not impossible. It can’t just exist at 30,000 feet. It has to be at the 1,000 foot level. It is irresponsible to ask your team to do something if the CEO exposure is only at the 30,000 foot level. You have to take it down and show that it can be done. You have to show them a pathway and show why it can be done. You only need to do this once to create the belief.’” (p. 128)

“Diminishers often unintentionally shut down the intelligence of others. Most Diminishers have built their careers on their own expertise and have been rewarded for their superior knowledge. For many, it is not until they reach a career plateau or crisis—or the director of photography quits in the middle of filming—that they begin to recognize that their base assumptions are inaccurate and are limiting themselves and others.” (p. 132)

“Our research has shown that when people work for Diminishers, they give only half of their capability, yet they consistently report the experience to be “exhausting.” In contrast, under the leadership of Multipliers, people are able to give their all—100 percent even—and describe the experience as “a bit exhausting but totally exhilarating!” Isn’t it interesting that giving half our capability is exhausting, but giving our all is exhilarating?” (p. 138)

“Through investing in others, Multipliers generate independence in others. They create organizations that can sustain performance without their direct involvement. When the organization is truly autonomous, these leaders have earned the right to step away. When they leave, they leave a legacy.” (p. 190)

“The research my team and I conducted, interviewing dozens of professionals and surveying hundreds more, showed that the five most prevalent reactions to Diminishers are: 1) confront them, 2) avoid them, 3) quit, 4) comply and lie low, and 5) ignore the diminishing behavior. My research also showed that the five least effective strategies in dealing with Diminishers are: 1) confront them, 2) avoid them, 3) comply and lie low, 4) convince them you are right, and 5) take HR action. In other words, the most popular strategies for dealing with Diminishers are also the least effective.” (p. 227)